The Matildas have been dumped out of the Paris Olympics at the group stage, their worst result since debuting in the women’s football competition at Sydney 2000.
Just a year after an historic fourth-place finish at last year’s Women’s World Cup on home soil, Australia’s best-ever result and one that captured the imagination of the country, it feels something like a bad dream.
Three years ago, in Tokyo, the Matildas also finished fourth – just like the World Cup, their best-ever result in the competition.
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This time around, they were confident of finally taking that seismic step up from fourth to the podium – even without injured captain Sam Kerr.
Back in Tokyo, Canada, led by indomitable captain Christine Sinclair, claimed their first-ever gold medal – and maiden major title – by beating Sweden on penalties in the final.
Yet that famous win has been tarnished by a growing scandal – and one that reverberates through the Matildas from Tokyo down to today’s heartbreak in France.
Before Canada’s opening group game of this Olympic tournament against New Zealand, a Canada analyst was arrested by French police for attempting to use a drone to the Kiwi team’s training sessions. Police retrieved footage from the drone of a second NZ training session three days earlier, as well as messages between the analyst, Joseph Lombardi, and Canadian assistant coach Jasmine Mander. According to multiple reports, the text messages evidenced that Mander was aware that Lombardi was spying on the Football Ferns. Lombardi told police he had not shared the footage with Mander or anyone else on the Canada team.
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Lombardi – who has worked with Canada since at least 2012 – and Mander were sent home by the Canadian Olympic Committee, before head coach Bev Priestman was also sent home following “additional information” (per the COC) that drone use had taken place before the 2024 Olympics and that Priestman was “highly likely” to have known about the New Zealand spying. All three were subsequently banned by FIFA for a year from all footballing activities, while Canada copped a fine of 200,000 Swiss Francs.
The reigning Olympic champions were slapped with a six-point deduction for the group stage of this year’s Games – equivalent to two wins.
It was a hefty and unprecedented punishment, including to the players – many of whom have come out to publicly declare they never saw any drone footage or knew of the practice.
Yet Canada won all three of the games in their group and finished second in the group despite the six-point deduction. That included a win this morning that knocked the Matildas out of the tournament.
Had Canada been handed a heftier punishment – like disqualification from the knockouts or its effective equal, a nine-point deduction – the Matildas’ Olympic dream was alive.
That’s not to say that the punishment was unfair, or too lenient. It was not – it was an unprecedented move during a tournament. Canada even appealed the punishment levied on the team (not the individual bans on the coaches), taking it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an emergency hearing. A decision was reached just hours before Canada’s match. The six-point penalty stood.
It is just a cruel twist of fate that after the Matildas’ 2-1 defeat to heavyweights USA, they – and all of Australia – had to wait with bated breath for the result of Canada’s match against Colombia immediately afterwards.
Canada won 1-0. Had they drawn, they would have been out of the tournament – and the Matildas still in. One goal to Colombia would have been enough to end their dream, just as one more goal for the Matildas against the USA would have been enough to keep Australia’s alive.
It is hugely impressive that the reigning gold medallists managed to win all three group games (against New Zealand, France, and Colombia) despite the absence of key coaches and the media firestorm that surrounded them.
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Yet the scandal is not over – and neither are the ties to the Matildas.
After the CAS appeal, FIFA released a damning document which detailed the reasons behind the punishment meted out to Canada.
It included an email sent to head coach Priestman by a Canada team performance analyst in March. The analyst’s name was redacted by FIFA.
Part of that email read: “As discussed yesterday, in terms of the ‘spying’ conversation, I came off the meeting with the clarity you understood my reasons for me being unwilling to do this moving forward,” the analyst wrote.
“Morally, my own reputation within the analysis field, potentially being unable to fulfil my role on a matchday. Moving forward I will have a discussion with Joey [Lombardi] and reach out to the wider tech team with regards to how we could potentially look for other solutions.
“But just wanted to confirm that you will not be asking me to fulfil the role of ‘spying’ in the upcoming and future camps.”
FIFA also released a subsequent email sent from Priestman on the same day to a HR consultant who works with Canada Soccer.
In that email, Priestman wrote:” Seeking your advice and input here regarding this formal email on spying. It’s something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the Men’s side with regards to it (we had [REDACTED] in with us recently and he was outstanding in this area).
“Yesterday in a meeting when discussing, I asked to propose a alternative solution as for scouting it can be the difference between winning and losing and all top 10 teams do it”.
The release of these emails was a bombshell. Firstly, it appears to confirm that Priestman was at least aware of the spying activities. Secondly, Priestman claims that it is something the Canadian Team has “always done” and “is the difference between winning and losing” – and that is also done by the men’s team.
According to Canadian media outlet TSN, previous incidences of spying allegedly include at Women’s World Cup qualifiers and during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Multiple outlets have alleged that the men’s team used spying during multiple friendlies and tournaments, with TSN claiming that a source with knowledge of the operation said it dated back at least to a 2019 game against the USA.
Even before the release of these documents by FIFA, Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker said there “appears to be information that could tarnish” the Tokyo gold medal.
He added: “It makes me ill, it makes me sick to my stomach to think that there could be something that calls it into question.”
According to the TSN report, one source claimed Canada filmed two of Japan’s training sessions – which occur behind closed doors – during the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
Canada drew 1-1 with Japan in their opening match of the Olympics.
“It was a little bit tricky during that time, given the fact that we were under a lot more restrictions, but there were ways to kind of sneak out of the hotel without people knowing,” the source said, per TSN. “In Tokyo, a lot of the facilities were a little bit more open so in some cases, you could see from behind bushes or behind fences or behind trees.
‘”It wasn’t that complicated, because they didn’t have the big mesh walls. So as long as you were close enough to the facility, you’re able to see if you’re in a hidden location.”
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The source told TSN that they were not aware whether Canada spied on other games during the Olympics.
But after the Matildas’ dreams of claiming a medal in this Olympics were dashed – by Canada – the ultimate twist looms: Canada could be stripped of their gold in Tokyo, and the Matildas’ fourth place could be upgraded to bronze.
Canada Soccer has already begun a full investigation into spying in both its men’s and women’s teams.
FIFA will await their report before being “able to assess and decide whether further action by the FIFA bodies is necessary and appropriate.” The FIFA punishment already handed down “relates only [emphasis from FIFA] to the drone incidents that occurred at the OFT [Olympic football tournament]”.
FIFA expedited their judgement on the case. Canada’s appeal to CAS was dismissed equally quickly.
For now, the Canada team can play on. They players are fighting to defend their gold medal. Canadian football is fighting to restore its reputation.
But unravelling the true depths of the scandal won’t be so quick. The Matildas won’t get that Tokyo bronze medal anytime soon, if ever.
For now, the Matildas are left to reflect on the fact that, regardless of what happened in other groups or other matches, they didn’t deserve to reach the Olympic knockouts.
Their medal dream will have to wait for another four years.
Source Agencies
