PARIS– Canada has lost its appeal against the deduction of six competition points following a drone spying scandal at the Olympic women’s soccer tournament.
O Court of Arbitration for Sport announced this Wednesday its three-judge panel rejected Canada’s appeal and upheld the six-point deduction imposed Saturday by FIFA.
Two assistant coaches used drones to spy on New Zealand’s training last week ahead of their opening game.
The urgent verdict was given less than eight hours before reigning Olympic champions Canada face Colombia in Nice in the final round of Group A.
Canada was third in the standings with zero points, despite winning both games, against New Zealand and France.
Canada could still advance to the quarterfinals with a win on Wednesday that would put them in first or second place. The top two from each of the three groups will advance, plus two third-placed teams.
Coach Bev Priestman and her two assistants were banned by FIFA for a year after being removed from the Olympics by Canadian authorities.
Their bans were not part of the accelerated appeal heard at the CAS Olympic tribunal in Paris, which held an urgent hearing on Tuesday.
The court only gave its ruling on Wednesday and said that “the full ruling with the reasons will be published at a later date.”
Without the suspended coaches participating in the games, the Canadian players beat New Zealand 2-1 and stunned hosts France on Sunday in a 2-1 victory sealed with a goal in the 12th minute of stoppage time.
The six-point penalty for violating FIFA rules at the tournament is unprecedented in modern football.
A three-point penalty is currently being applied to Ecuador in the 2026 Men’s World Cup qualifiers in South America. sanction was imposed by CAS judges and transferred from Ecuador to place an ineligible player with forged documents into the team’s successful 2022 World Cup qualification program.
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