Jesse Marsch Bev Priestman Usa Argentina Canada New Zealand country blues CEO Olympics SPY Aware Jesse Marsch Bev Priestman Usa Argentina Canada New Zealand

Canada men's soccer team attempted drone spying at Copa America, Canada Soccer CEO says

cbc.ca

The CEO of Canada Soccer says the men's national soccer team "attempted drone usage" during the Copa America tournament that wrapped earlier this month.

Kevin Blue said that it was his understanding it didn't affect competitive integrity but would not offer details as he spoke with media from Paris on Friday.

Asked whether Jesse Marsch, the head coach of the men's national team, was aware of possible drone usage at that tournament in the United States, Blue said he was aware after the fact.

Blue said that Marsch "denounced it as a practice to his staff." Canada advanced as a guest country to the semifinals of the Copa America, South America's most important soccer tournament, before falling 2-0 to Argentina.

Related News
The final game was delayed by over 80 minutes, and issues with crowd control overshadowed the dramatic late goal scored in extra time. This came just days after Uruguay players jumped the stands to clash with Colombian supporters after their semi-final win. 
Andy Spence hasn't skipped a beat since being thrust into the acting head coach position for the Canadian women's soccer team at the Paris Olympics.
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.
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.
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.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.