Canada Soccer cheated multiple times, and reportedly, at multiple Olympics and international tournaments. The Canadian Olympic Committee seemingly believed women’s team coach Bev Priestman wasn’t responsible for any of the spying as recently as Wednesday — only to dramatically reverse course just over 24 hours later.
Welcome to the Paris Olympics, Canadian athletes. Your country is a sporting mess.
At the opening ceremony Friday, athletes who have nothing to do with this fiasco will wave the Canadian flag on the Seine river as television commentators from around the world discuss how Canada has become an Olympic embarrassment.
These were supposed to be Summer’s Games — and there’s every chance that still will be the case, thanks to Canadian swim sensation Summer McIntosh.
The COC can only hope McIntosh delivers signature performances to take some focus away from spygate. Of course, all of this puts even more pressure on a 17-year-old.
“While this is obviously not the start we wanted, I think that when we see Summer McIntosh in the pool tomorrow, I hope that’s the medicine the whole nation needs and can use,” COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker said Friday.
“I can use it.”
Shoemaker clearly is under the microscope.
That the COC and Canada Soccer originally decided not to suspend Priestman after two drone incidents at New Zealand practices before these Olympics now looks foolish.
“I was persuaded by the fact that Bev Priestman had no involvement, no knowledge of the incident,” Shoemaker said Wednesday.
Priestman actually said she was showing leadership by voluntarily stepping away from head-coaching duties for Thursday’s opener against New Zealand.
Turns out the coach needs to enroll in Leadership 101.
A day after Shoemaker determined Priestman was not to blame, new information emerged.
A report from TSN’s Rick Westhead on Thursday night indicated that the Canadian men’s and women’s soccer teams both have been trying to spy on opponents for years, including in the women’s team’s run to Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
Minutes after that report, Priestman was suspended. On Friday, Shoemaker said new info convinced him it is likely Priestman knew about the drone incidents in France.
Shoemaker also said the recent discoveries could “tarnish” Canada’s gold from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
So, now we’re left with a reeling Canadian women’s soccer program guided by assistant coach Andy Spence, who worked under Priestman. But Shoemaker said he’s comfortable having the team continue play at the Paris Olympics — and you can make the case it would be unfair to punish the players for an organizational failure.
But you also can make an argument that it would be better for this team to drop out before Sunday’s second game against host France.
CBC Olympics host Scott Russell, a strong voice in Canadian sport, challenged new Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue on the team’s participation in the midst of this developing story on a Zoom news conference on Friday.
“Listen, as you can appreciate this situation has cast a shadow over the entire Canadian Olympic team here in Paris on the day of the opening ceremony,” Russell said. “It has totally distracted Canadians back home. It has become the only story about Canadian athletes at Paris 2024 so far.
“I’m wondering in light of all this, have you considered withdrawing the team? The integrity of the tournament has obviously been compromised. Canadians have compromised the integrity of the tournament. And this reflects poorly on the entire Canadian Olympic team.”
Blue was equally passionate in his response.
“I deeply considered and thought about the implications of this issue for the Canadian delegation,” he said. “I’ve deeply considered and feel, frankly, very disappointed and frustrated with the distraction this has created. But I have not considered withdrawal of the team, primarily because we feel like we have addressed the situation swiftly and significantly. It would be to the detriment of our players, who have worked so hard and sacrificed quite a bit to be Olympians and themselves have not engaged in unethical behaviour.
“I will not consider us withdrawing on the basis of the fact we support our players as Olympians and their right to be here and their right to compete.”
Blue recommended the decision to suspend Priestman on Thursday — which was badly needed. He also revealed that there was “attempted drone usage” by the men’s team at the recently concluded Copa America, so he is showing some transparency.
Keep in mind, Blue inherited this wreck after being hired mere months ago, so he’s well down the list of people to criticize.
Now, we must wonder about former men’s and women’s coach John Herdman and what his Canadian men’s team did off the field ahead of and during the 2022 World Cup — Canada’s first appearance in the tournament since 1986. Herdman is now the head coach of Toronto FC and new Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley figures to be watching this closely.
Everything should be on the table for Canada Soccer, just weeks removed from captivating the country with the men’s team’s surprising semifinal appearance at Copa America.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Olympians are set to compete in the shadow of a scandal created by people expected to make things better for our athletes.
“What I can do is answer the questions, sit down with anyone that wants to talk to me and be as open as I possibly can under the circumstances,” Shoemaker told the media. “And you’ll cover that and I encourage you to, but you can also cover these incredible other athletes across all of these sports in this city of Paris, which has put on a spectacular Games.”
Shoemaker will get his wish.
Team Canada athletes will be doing their best to hit the podium while their non-athlete leaders deal with the daunting task of trying to clean up a soccer program in shambles.
