Staff sent home over Olympic drone scandal as analyst cops suspended prison sentence

An analyst with the Canadian women’s football team has copped a prison sentence as the dramatic fallout to a drone scandal continues in Paris.

The Canada Womens National Team huddles following a Group C - 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup game against Paraguay at Shell Energy Stadium on February 25, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

An assistant coach and an analyst with the Canadian women’s football team were on Wednesday sent home from the Olympics for their part in a spying scandal.

The analyst, 43-year-old Joey Lombardi, was also given a suspended eight-month prison sentence for flying a drone over a New Zealand training session this week in Saint-Etienne.

Lombardi pleaded guilty when he appeared in court in Saint-Etienne on Wednesday, the court told AFP.

The assistant coach was Jasmine Mander, to whom Lombardi reported.

Head coach Bev Priestman also announced she will take no part in the opening game of Canada’s gold medal defence, against New Zealand.

The decisions come after a staff member was detained by French authorities for flying the drone in a bid to spy on New Zealand’s tactics.

Canada's coach Bev Priestman (C) has stood down from the opening game. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said it had since learned of a second incident involving New Zealand, who formally lodged a complaint with the IOC integrity unit and demanded answers from Canada.

“The COC is in contact with the IOC and in contact with FIFA. Canada Soccer has been transparent and cooperative throughout the process,” the COC said.

“The COC will continue to review this matter and may take further action if necessary.”

Priestman said she did not think it would be appropriate to be on the bench for the clash against New Zealand on Thursday.

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologise to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,” she said.

“This does not represent the values that our team stands for.

“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasise our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday.”