Canada's Olympic gold-winning and suspended national team captain Bev Priestman apologizes in a letter after the drone espionage of opponent New Zealand.
"I am completely crushed for my players' sake. I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for how this situation has affected everyone", writes Priestman in the letter published by Canadian media.
"I know how hard they have worked after a very tough last year and that it is a group of people who care a lot about sportsmanship and integrity."
New Zealand's women's national football team noticed drones over their training pitch during two of the team's training sessions days before the Olympic Games premiere against Canada in Saint-Étienne. It has been revealed that at least one of the drones belonged to Canada. National team captain Bev Priestman has been banned for a year by the International Football Association (Fifa) and assistant coach Jasmine Mander and video analyst Joseph Lombardi have been sent home from France.
Reigning Olympic champion Canada, who defeated Sweden in the Olympic final in 2021, has despite the drone scandal won its first two Olympic matches. Despite a six-point deduction, equivalent to two wins, the team has a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
On Wednesday, the team will play its last group stage match in the Olympic Games, against Colombia in Nice.
