While I think it's scandalous, I don't think they'd take away Canada's gold medal. Also, I can't help to think that this has been done before by other(s) who haven't been caught.
Well... it depends how they go about GD... because Canada still can end up with three points after 3 matches - deduction included... and 3 points may be enough to advance depending on GD
If I've counted correctly, there have been 4 teams to earn 3pts in 3rd place since the women's Olympic tournament was three groups of four. Those teams are 1-3 in advancing to the KO stage. If Canada want to advance, they will not only have to be perfect through their remaining two games (having already played their easiest game) and hope the other groups play out to their benefit. Honestly I wanted them to be bounced (and their previous Gold vacated) but I can see why that's not fair to the players when it's the staff that were the problem. So this current solution gives the players a chance to "rise above" while still making it likely the federation leaves with egg on its face
That's if the players weren't actually aware of the cheating: given the circumstances, I'd say this is a big "if".
Canada can reach the quarterfinal with one point. A draw against France and then a win against Colombia. Colombia vs New Zealand ends in a draw and France beats New Zealand. Canada would have better goal difference than New Zealand and Colombia.
=EDIT= wait, I read that as CAN being in 3rd, when that actually puts them in 2nd. That's wild They can also advance from 3rd if they beat FRA and draw COL - though it would require both of the other groups to play out as either 9-6-1-1 or 7-7-1-1 points spreads. (CAN would also by definition have a better GD in those comparisons too.) And that would certainly be unprecedented - I don't think I've ever seen a tournament anywhere where a team in 3rd advanced on 1 or even 2 points (in the 3/1/0 points system) barring forfeits or atypical structures.
Seems you were right. Multiple people knew about CAN's *secret spying* dating back to 2019, but Concacaf+FIFA kept their mouth shut despite complaints from lesser rivals. If it weren't for the IOC, FIFA would have never sanctioned CAN. I guess CAN fed is not in Kansas anymore.
The Canadian girls played with their soul, the words of Vanessa Gilles were moving Game hero Vanessa Gilles was asked how the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team could focus with the air Canada drone scandal swirling around them. Her answer revealed anger, sadness, solidarity and an echo, for those of a certain vintage, of Phil Esposito. #CANWNT pic.twitter.com/ASbKZHWx5S— Glenn Kubish (@Kub64) July 28, 2024
Again, well played by Canada and it was unreal, but still doesn’t wash up the fact the reason why their manager and coaches got banned and a 6 points deduction.
How can average intelligent human not understand THE ONLY REASON for illegal, cheating drone usage was improving TEAM and PLAYERS performance and score. Those coaches and staff didn't fly objects over closed opponents' training for their personal hobbistic aviation experience, they illegally gathered information to get points that rightfully got deducted. It's perfectly fair and logical punishment.
I feel for the Canadian players and the position they've been put in. But, still I would be surprised if no players had an inkling about what was going on with drones if it had been going on for so long. It seems like some on the Canadian men's team were shown clips of their opponents' trainings so some of them at least knew.
Rebecca Welch gets crunch Group A clash between Canada and Colombia on Wednesday.— Rich Laverty (@RichJLaverty) July 29, 2024
I am not against the punishment doled out by FIFA and, in my opinion, the 1 year ban on the coaching staff could be longer. I feel that Priestman should be fired asap and that those others closely involved (Herdman?) should face sanctions, also. That said, the "fact" that it "seems" that "some" people have an "inkling" that "maybe" players "could have" seen drone footage and "possibly" gained an advantage that "might have" enabled them to "perhaps" win Olympic gold etc is speculative, at best. The punishment has been decided (I don't think Canada should have appealed but I understand why they did) and if the Canadian players somehow get out of the group, it is an amazing story. If not, oh well, players can be proud of themselves and Canada Soccer can continue to be embarrassed until it does its best to cut the rot and make amends.
Gotta love when players are painted as these naive/innocent beings, unaware of prolonged internal practices. Since 2020, rival federations raised formal complaints about spy drones to both Concacaf and CAN. Rival squads canceled training sessions as soon as drones were spotted. Concacaf always bailed CAN out. It took a French Olympic Organizing Committee to accuse CAN of using spy drones for the charges to stick. FIFA would have never acted against CAN otherwise. That tells you how much protection CAN has enjoyed and will continue to have. https://www.tsn.ca/canada-s-men-s-a...es-and-spying-for-years-sources-say-1.2153674 The filming also included at least one training session before a women’s national team game against Panama in July 2022, when Canada was attempting to qualify for the Women’s World Cup in Australia, one of the sources said. In that case, the source said, a Canadian contractor was caught attempting to film a private Panama training and a complaint was made by the Panamanian Football Federation to Canada Soccer and to Concacaf... : Staff and contractors connected to the men’s national team have also filmed the closed training sessions of competitors, one of the sources told TSN, adding that Canada used a drone to record a U.S. training session before a Nov. 15, 2019, game in Florida. The U.S. won that game 4-1. : Two years later, Honduras stopped a training session in Toronto during World Cup qualifiers after someone spotted a drone overhead. : One of the sources said the spying included a Team Canada coach filming two of Japan’s closed-door training sessions during the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Canada tied Japan 1-1 in its first game during those Olympics. : TSN has reviewed text message correspondence of a women’s national team coach discussing secret filming of their opponents’ training sessions ahead of games in 2022 against Costa Rica, South Korea and Trinidad. : One of the sources said the strategy for filming opposing teams’ practices in Canada was relatively easy because Canada Soccer staff knew where they were practicing and what hotels they were staying in.
Gotta love it when one nation (who being rightfully punished) is painted as the only practioner of this sort of sporting espionage... smacks a lot too much of the Ben Johnson scandal. In subsequent years, the 1988 100 meter sprint final has been coined as the "dirtiest race ever" as 6 of 8 runners were found to have been on performance enhancing drugs. Really, let's not get too pious here.