One year after Canada's Olympics cheating scandal, the once-renowned program moves on

It has been hardly much than a twelvemonth since the Canadian women's nationalist shot team made planetary headlines astatine the 2024 Olympics for a spying ungraded that unearthed a "long-term, profoundly embedded systemic culture" of cheating, arsenic Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue described it astatine the time.

The defending Olympic golden medalists astatine the time, Canada, were days from their tourney opener successful Saint-Etienne, France erstwhile a drone was caught spying connected a signifier league of their archetypal opponent, New Zealand. French authorities rapidly traced the drone backmost to a Canada Soccer unit member, and astir arsenic rapidly reports alleged Canada had been spying connected opponents for years.

In the aftermath, the Canada coaching staff, including caput manager Bev Priestman, were disgraced and issued one-year bans by FIFA. Priestman has since returned to the sport, astir precisely 1 twelvemonth aboriginal being named the caput manager of a nine successful New Zealand past month.

But for the players connected that Canadian squad accused of cheating, the fallout is inactive being felt and players are inactive picking up the pieces, immoderate 13 months later.

The players said from the commencement that they were unaware of what their coaching unit had been up to, but their achievements -- including Canada's archetypal and lone Olympics golden medal successful in 2021 -- were instantly called into question.

"What we went done arsenic a radical was truly pugnacious and the backlash that we got was rough, and [people are] inactive poking jokes astir it," Canada goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan told ESPN recently.

"I deliberation it's been a small spot easier to judge now," she added. "Obviously, then, vigor of the moment, everything hurts and everything stings. We each benignant of had to unopen down but that radical is conscionable unthinkable and they're similar family. We benignant of came retired of that knowing that those are the radical we'll beryllium capable to spot for life."

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At the time, Canada was fixed a six-point deduction but was allowed to proceed competing successful the Olympics, winning each 3 games successful the radical signifier to decorativeness with 3 points, capable to marque the quarterfinals of the 12-team tournament. They mislaid to Germany successful a punishment shootout successful that quarterfinal -- a singular accomplishment nether the circumstances -- but the fallout was acold from over. An probe soon began to find the grade of the Canadian program's cheating.

As guardant Janine Sonis told ESPN past month, determination was immoderate "dread" implicit the thought that a deeper probe would mean reliving their French nightmare successful those months to follow. Findings from that investigation, released successful November 2024, revealed a "pattern of an unacceptable civilization and insufficient oversight wrong the nationalist teams," arsenic Blue described it. Priestman, who had already been suspended until then, was officially fired astatine that time.

Investigators confirmed that players did not presumption the drone footage successful question astatine the Olympics, a constituent that ac...