Canada overcomes the odds, and a FIFA point deduction, to book controversial spot in Olympic quarterfinals

The Canadian women's soccer team made headlines for all the wrong reasons last week. Mere hours before its opening Olympic game against New Zealand, Canada's coaching staff was accused of using a drone to spy on New Zealand's pregame practice sessions.

Recording a team without its consent violates FIFA's fair-play rules and France's privacy laws, and the incident soon exploded into controversy. Bev Priestman, the head coach of Canada's women's team, accepted a yearlong ban from the sport.

Emails soon surfaced between Priestman and her employees that implied drone spying was a common — and even endorsed — practice for the Canadian men's and women's soccer.

"It's something the analyst has always done," Priestman said to human resources in an email about an employee who was hesitant to use drones. "I know there is a whole operation on the men's side with regards to it."

That bombshell shed unflattering light on Canada's recent soccer success. Its women's team won the Olympic gold medal in 2021; its men's team recently shook off years of underperformance to qualify for its first World Cup in decades and made a semifinal run at the Copa America. Could spying have been the secret fuel behind all that progress?

Kevin Blue, the CEO of Canada Soccer, couldn't say no. "The more I learn about this specific matter," he said in a statement, "the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable."

FIFA had to act. It handed the Canadian women's soccer team a six-point deduction in the Olympic tournament, a penalty large enough to functionally eliminate it from the competition. Canada would still get to play all three of its group-stage games, but the chances of it playing more were close to zero.

But then, the impossible happened. Canada won all of its games, finishing its group stage with three points instead of nine thanks to its six-point deduction. And crucially, Canada's key competitors stumbled, making its three-point total enough to steal a spot in the quarterfinals.

For Canada's athletes, the impossible escape was heralded as a karmic victory. The players hadn't known about or participated in the spying, after all, and were playing for their own reputations as much as they were for an Olympic medal.

"We're not cheaters," Canadian defender Vanessa Gilles said after Canada clinched its advancement. "We're damn good players. We're a damn good team. We're a damn good group, and we proved that today."

But for the rest of the teams at the Olympics, Canada's advancement was more bitter than sweet. Here was a team that had benefitted from illegal spying operations — ones that had run afoul of FIFA regulations and the French law — getting away with what amounted to a slap on the wrist.

There are still many open questions about Canada's spying operation. Was it fair to penalize Priestman — and make her the face of the scandal — when all evidence points to Canada's spying being an institutional practice? Will John Herdman, Canada's former men's manager, or Jesse Marsch, his replacement, face similar punishments? Is spying even beneficial in an age where every game is recorded and easily accessible?

With the integrity of the Olympic soccer tournament, the usefulness of FIFA's judiciary rulings and the reputation of Canada Soccer on the line, these questions will need answers...and fast.

The only certainty is this: Canada will face Germany on Saturday in the Olympic quarterfinals, and it's expected to win.