EDITORIAL – Canada’s soccer punishment is deserved, to a point

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

IT WAS STUPID, this thing with the drones, but does the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team deserve such a harsh punishment?

Today (July 27, 2024), it was announced that Canada has been deducted six points for spying on the New Zealand team with a drone prior to the opening game of the Olympics, which we won 2-1. The deduction puts Canada three points in the hole despite the win.

On top of the points being taken off, three of the Canadian team’s coaches are suspended for a year. The suspensions could probably have been weathered as far as the Olympics are concerned, but the six-point deduction makes it unlikely Canada can advance from group play.

To do that, it would have to defeat both highly ranked host France, and Colombia, and hope it’s good enough for at least a tie with one of the other teams.

Canada deserves what it’s getting, to a point. The suspensions, certainly. And a three-point deduction was to be expected, but six is too much. It’s a drastic punishment that goes way beyond those responsible for the mess and heavily impacts the players.

Current wisdom is that the players didn’t know what was going on with the drones. After so much hard work, and with so much pride in playing for their country in the Olympics, they must feel crushed.

Experts say drone spying is not at all uncommon in the game of soccer. They also say it’s not all that valuable in gaining an edge on the competition.

Yet, with opposing teams taking extra precautions to ensure they aren’t being spied on, plus the knowledge that drone surveillance isn’t of much use, plus the fact drones are prohibited from Olympic sites for security reasons, some brain trust in Canadian women’s soccer figured it was a good idea.

Investigations will probably figure out who gave the green light. Whoever it was should be banned, not just for a year. But punishing the players is too much.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.