FIFA investigating Canada over drone incidents, coach Bev Priestman out for Olympic opener

FIFA says its disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against Canada Soccer and three members of the women’s team’s staff in the aftermath of two drone incidents ahead of the Paris Olympics.

In a press release Wednesday, FIFA said it is investigating head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi “due to the potential breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and article 6.1 of the Regulations Olympic Football Tournaments Games of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced Wednesday that Canadian coach Bev Priestman has withdrawn from Thursday’s 2024 Games debut against New Zealand because of the incident earlier this week.

The COC also announced that Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, and Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to whom Lombardi reports, will both be removed from the Canadian Olympic team and sent home immediately.

The COC said Tuesday that a “non-accredited” member of Canada Soccer’s support team was detained by French authorities in Saint-Étienne for allegedly using a drone to record New Zealand’s team during practice.

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada. This does not represent the values that our team stands for,” Priestman said in a statement.

“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”

Priestman was named head coach of Canada in 2020 and guided the team to its first Olympic gold medal the following year in Tokyo.

Lombardi, a 43-year-old native of Brampton, Ont., is listed on Canada Soccer’s website as having served on the Canadian women’s team’s staff at the FIFA World Cup in 2023. He also worked for six Canadian youth teams at FIFA competitions.

Lombardi earned his Canada Soccer Coaching B Diploma in 2006 and his Canada Soccer Coaching A Diploma in 2009.

The COC made the announcement less than 45 minutes before Priestman and several players were scheduled to meet the media in France.

The COC says it has in contact with the IOC and FIFA. The COC added it will continue to review the matter and may take further action.

Canada Soccer says it will proceed with an independent external review. This review will address the circumstances of the current matter, and more broadly, will seek to understand the historical culture of competitive ethics within all of our programs. The outcome of this review will be shared publicly and corrective actions, if necessary, will be taken.