Suspended Bev Priestman makes first public comments in wake of drone-spying scandal

Suspended soccer coach Bev Priestman has broken her silence, saying she hopes something positive comes out of the ongoing Canadian drone-spying scandal.

"I hope out of a really tough situation, this is a turning point for our game," she wrote in an Instagram post via her verified account. "There has been a standard and precedent set now, irrespective of gender, tournament or associated revenues that will hopefully clean up our game."

She did not address her role in the affair in the six-paragraph post.

Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi are all serving one-year FIFA bans for their role in the scandal, which saw the Canada women's team use a drone to spy on two New Zealand training sessions at the Olympics.

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Canada Soccer says the three won't be back in the wake of the recent independent report into the scandal. Lombardi is already gone, having resigned his position after the Olympics.

"The findings of the independent investigator reveal that the incident itself was a symptom of a difficult and unacceptable past culture within the national teams," Canada Soccer chief executive officer and general secretary Kevin Blue and president and board chair Peter Augruso said in a statement when the report was released earlier this month.

Canada Soccer continues to investigate the roots of the spying scandal and has initiated a disciplinary process against former men's and women's coach John Herdman, currently coach of Toronto FC.

The governing body has said it "has initiated a proceeding with respect to Mr. Herdman under its