The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer are appealing FIFA's six-point penalty to the national women's soccer team in the wake of a spying scandal at the Paris Games.
FIFA docked the points on Saturday as part of a punishment that included a fine for Canada Soccer and the suspension of three coaching staff members for one year.
A team analyst was caught using a drone to spy on New Zealand's practices before the start of competition. The Court of Arbitration for Sport's special Olympic court in Paris confirmed today that it had received the appeal, officially kicking off the process. "The appeal is based on the disproportionality of the sanction, which we believe unfairly punishes the athletes for actions they had no part in and goes far beyond restoring fairness to the match against New Zealand," the COC said in a statement.
A closed-door hearing before a panel of three judges will likely be held Tuesday with a ruling expected Wednesday, before Canada's final group stage game against Colombia in Nice.