Canada Appeals FIFA's Six-Point Penalty in Women's Soccer Spying Scandal at Paris Games

Author:

Anastasia Petkov

|Published: July 30th, 2024

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer are appealing FIFA's decision to dock six points from the national women's soccer team following a spying scandal at the Paris Games.

FIFA announced the penalty on Saturday, which also included a fine for Canada Soccer and a one-year suspension for three coaching staff members.

The sanctions came after a team analyst was caught using a drone to spy on New Zealand's practices before the start of the competition.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) special Olympic court in Paris confirmed it had received the appeal, officially initiating the process.

"The appeal is based on the disproportionality of the sanction, which we believe unfairly punishes the athletes for actions they had no part in and goes far beyond restoring fairness to the match against New Zealand," the COC stated.

A closed-door hearing before a panel of three judges is expected to take place on Tuesday, with a ruling anticipated on Wednesday, just before Canada's final group stage game against Colombia in Nice.

Despite the six-point deduction, Canada managed to pull off a stunning 2-1 victory over France following their initial 2-1 win over New Zealand.

The penalty wiped out all points gained from those wins, but the victory over the host side ensures the defending champion Canadians still have a chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Canada could still advance to the quarterfinals in the 12-team tournament even if the appeal fails, provided they win on Wednesday.

The tournament format allows two third-place teams from the three groups to proceed to the knockout stage.

Bev Priestman, who has coached the team since 2020, has apologized for the incident and expressed her heartbreak for the players. The 38-year-old coach could also appeal her FIFA ban to CAS as an individual.