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Canada loses appeal, as drone-spying scandal could spread to 2026 World Cup

foxnews.com

Canadian soccer officials admitted in evidence to FIFA that spying on opponents was routinely done, for the men’s national team as well as the women’s team, which has been punished for using drones at the Paris Olympics.

The drone-spying scandal threatens to spread beyond the Olympics, where Canada is the defending women’s champion, to the men’s team at the 2026 World Cup.

Canada is one of the 2026 World Cup home teams, co-hosting the 48-team tournament with the United States and Mexico. Canada lost its appeal Wednesday at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a six-point penalty imposed by the sport's world governing body for spying on New Zealand practices ahead of their opening game last week.

The urgent verdict was published just hours before Canada — on zero points despite winning its first two games, against New Zealand and France — plays Colombia at Nice.

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The Canadian women, despite an Olympic spying scandal that cost the team its coach and a six-point penalty, have climbed two spots to No. 6 in the latest FIFA world rankings.
This is an excerpt from CBC Sports' daily newsletter, The Buzzer. Subscribe here to get the latest on the Paris Olympics in your inbox every day.
Vanessa Gilles scored in the 62nd minute to give Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia and send the team into the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday despite losing six points in the tournament because of a drone spying scandal.
Canada’s women’s team have lost their appeal against a six-point deduction at the Paris Olympics after a drone was used to spy on a rival team’s training session.
Emails released by FIFA indicate drone usage for the purposes of spying may have been a common practice across Canada Soccer's senior national teams.
A sports arbitration court on Wednesday dismissed Canada's appeal of a six-point penalty against its Olympic women's soccer team in the wake of a drone spying scandal.

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