Canada’s appeal against its football team’s points deduction at the Paris Games amid a drone scandal was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS said on Wednesday.
Defending champion Canada was docked six points, while coach Bev Priestman and officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander were banned from any football-related activity for one year by FIFA after New Zealand complained that Canadian staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening match.
“The application filed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer in relation to the six-point deduction imposed on the Canadian women’s soccer team for the football tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been dismissed,” CAS said, with the reasoned decision to be published at a later date.
“The Applicants sought a decision from the CAS Ad hoc Division either cancelling or reducing the points deduction imposed by the FIFA Appeal Committee in its decision of 27 July 2024 after it established that breaches of the FIFA regulations applicable to the Olympic football tournament concerning the prohibition on flying drones over training sites had occurred.”
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On Monday, Sport Canada said it was withholding funding allocated for the salaries of Priestman and the two other suspended team officials, calling the drone scandal that has rocked the Paris Olympic football tournament an embarrassment to all Canadians.
Canada won its first two games but is third in Group A with no points, following the deduction, behind table-topping Colombia and second-placed France, both have three points.
Canada plays Colombia later on Wednesday, knowing a victory will take it into the quarterfinals, while France faces bottom side New Zealand, which must win to have a chance of progress.
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