FIFA announced on Saturday that Canada’s Olympic women’s football team had six points removed and their coach, Beverly Priestman, had been suspended for a year after a staff member used a drone to spy on a rival team at the Paris Games.
FIFA cited Canada’s football organization for violating the ban on flying drones above training sites.
It also imposed a punishment of 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,000).
The decision is a crushing blow to Canada’s aspirations of defending the Olympic championship it won three years ago at the Tokyo Games.
It drops them to minus three points in Group A before they face hosts France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne.
They defeated New Zealand 2-1 in their first game on Thursday, but the deduction means they must win their next two matches to get to the quarterfinals.
Analyst Joey Lombardi was released after receiving a suspended eight-month prison sentence for flying a drone over a New Zealand training session prior to the game.
Assistant Jasime Mander was also sent home, while Priestman pulled out of the game against New Zealand and was later suspended by Canada Soccer.
Lombardi and Mander, like Priestman, were suspended by FIFA from “any football-related activity for a period of one year”.
“The officials were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play,” the world football governing body stated.
Priestman, 38, led Canada to gold in Tokyo in 2021, defeating Sweden on penalties in the final.
Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue had attempted to persuade FIFA not to punish the team, claiming that the players had not seen any film captured by the drone.
“The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behaviour,” Blue told reporters on Friday.
“And, frankly, we ask FIFA to take that into account when considering any additional sanctions.
“Specifically we do not feel that a deduction of points in this tournament would be fair to our players.”
Following Canada’s opening victory over New Zealand, the players swore they were innocent of any misconduct.
“There was a lot of emotion, frustration and humiliation because as a player, it doesn’t reflect our values and what we want to represent as competitors at the Olympics,” Vanessa Gilles, the defender, told ESPN.
“The Games promote fair play. As Canadians, they are neither our nor our country’s values. “We are not cheaters.”
Separately on Friday, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker stated that Canada’s victory at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics may have been tainted by surveillance techniques.