There will be no quest for gold for Bev Priestman.
The head coach of the Canadian Olympic women’s soccer team has been removed from her position after it was discovered coaching staff had allegedly used drones to spy on New Zealand’s team.
“Over the past 24 hours,” Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue began a July 25 statement, “additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
He continued, "In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Soccer Team Head Coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”
The decision to suspend Priestman comes after Joseph Lombardi, a unaccredited analyst, was detained on July 22 by French police on allegations of spying on New Zealand’s training session with a drone, according to statements shared by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The COC also shared that he reported into assistant coach Jasmine Mander, and on July 24 confirmed both individuals were being sent home.
E! News reached out to Priestman for comment but has not heard back, and has attempted to find contact information for Lombardi and Mander.
Though during a July 24 online media session COC CEO David Shoemaker shared that Priestman “unequivocally” denied knowledge of the recordings, she was ultimately let go from the team after more alleged drone activity was discovered predating the Olympics, per the statement from Canada Soccer.
And while Priestman had removed herself from managing Canada’s game against New Zealand July 25—before her official removal by the COC—Canada ultimately won their game 2-1. According to NBC Miami, she also apologized to players and staff of New Zealand's women's team, as well as to Canadian players, before the game.
Assistant coach Andy Spence has been tapped to take over for Priestman for the duration of the Olympic season.
In the light of the scandal, Canadian players are reacting to the shocking news.
“This is awful, the worst-case scenario,” Amy Walsh, a former women’s national team player for Canda told TSN. “I feel sick to my stomach, genuinely nauseated. I understand when you get to a high level, people will be ruthless and do whatever they can to gain a competitive advantage but this is so far over the line.”
She continued, “The players are benefitting from the coaches cheating. There's a certain amount of blind trust players have that coaches are doing things the right way and this is the ultimate betrayal."
(NBC News and E! News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)