The fallout over the Canada women’s team’s Dronegate fiasco has now impacted on the men’s side, who allegedly engaged in similar activity during the Copa América.
On Monday, Canada WNT’s Olympic Games opponents New Zealand spotted a drone looking in on a training session at Saint-Étienne ahead of their match this week in that city.
In addition to an unspecified member of staff being sent home for the apparent operation of the drone, coach Bev Priestman was suspended for the duration of the tournament – and it has now emerged that it may be an issue across the entirety of Canadian senior soccer on the international stage.
“I have received anecdotal evidence in recent days that there was attempted drone usage once during the Copa América,” Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue admitted.
“I’ve spoken with Jesse Marsch. He was aware of it after the fact as a minimum and he has denounced it as a practice to his staff. I do believe that the competitive integrity of the match was not at risk.”
Blue went on to insist that in relation to the current controversy, the Canada players should not be punished for behaviour that they seemingly knew little to nothing about.
“I’m stating right now that the team has not seen any of that footage and the players have not committed any wrongdoing. I’m frustrated about the distraction this has created but I’ve not considered withdrawing the team,” he added.
“That’s primarily because we feel we’ve addressed the situation swiftly and significantly. The players themselves have not engaged in any unethical behaviour.”
In the game in question, Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1.
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