The lawyer for former Soccer Canada coach Bev Priestman, pictured here in 2023, says her client was the victim of “blame shifting” in the wake of the Paris Olympics drone-spying scandal.Scott Barbour/The Canadian Press
The lawyer for former senior women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman says her client is the victim of “blame shifting” in the wake of the Paris Olympics drone-spying scandal.
Muneeza Sheikh, a Toronto-based employment and human rights lawyer, posted a statement to LinkedIn after The Globe and Mail published an investigation this weekend into the drone spying scandal and complaints from staff about the culture within Canada Soccer. The lawyer said the story contained allegations that were untrue, but did not specify what she was referring to.
“What happened at the Paris Olympics should have been a catalyst for change for Soccer,” Ms. Sheikh wrote. “Instead, the world has observed a master class of blame-shifting.”
She said Ms. Priestman has “proved her tenacity” as a coach across multiple teams over the past decade and as a leader in women’s sport.
Ms. Priestman was suspended by FIFA and Canada Soccer after performance analyst Joey Lombardi was caught by French police illegally flying a drone over an opponent’s closed practice on July 22. An investigation by lawyer Sonia Regenbogen found Ms. Priestman and assistant coach Jasmine Mander — whose names were redacted from the public version of the report — directed Mr. Lombardi to twice spy on New Zealand ahead of their match at the Olympics.
Jasmine Mander, pictured.Supplied
Canada Soccer announced earlier this month that Ms. Priestman and Ms. Mander will no longer be working for the organization. Mr. Lombardi resigned from Canada Soccer after the Olympics.
The Globe’s investigation found Ms. Priestman and Ms. Mander oversaw a program that was already in turmoil long before the Olympic scandal. Some current and former staff told The Globe that the team had become a toxic place to work and they complained about staff drinking sessions the night before games.
The Globe investigation also revealed that Canada Soccer launched two workplace investigations in 2023; Canada Soccer has said those investigations did not find violations of the organization’s Code of Conduct and Ethics.
Ms. Sheikh, who declined to comment before The Globe published its investigation, said in her LinkedIn post that Ms. Priestman has been targeted by false allegations.
“What has transpired continues to shed light on double standards in sport, hypocrisy, and false narratives. The recent article levies several fabricated claims against Bev,” Ms. Sheikh wrote. “These are demonstratively being raised now to detract from the real story. Bev has never harassed anyone.”
She added that the claims against Ms. Priestman are “designed to discredit and malign a gay woman in professional sports.”
Ms. Priestman issued a statement late Friday night in a post on Instagram — her first public comments since the spying scandal at the Paris Olympics in July.
“I hope out of a really tough situation this is a turning point for our game,” she wrote. “There has been a standard and precedent set now, irrespective of gender, tournament or associated revenues that will hopefully clean up our game.”
The statement from Ms. Priestman, who took over the women’s program in 2020 and coached the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics, did not address the allegations that she ordered her staff to gather surveillance on opposing teams.
Dean Crawford, a lawyer for Ms. Mander, previously said accounts provided to The Globe about his client directing spying are inaccurate, but declined to elaborate. “At a high level, I can tell you that the allegations made by others to you about Ms. Mander’s involvement in various attempts to obtain surveillance of opponents are not accurate,” Mr. Crawford said.
Canada Soccer previously told The Globe that it commissioned the workplace investigations but declined to identify who among the organization’s leadership had received a copy. Instead, spokesperson Paulo Senra pointed to former executives at the organization who “fell short” of the disclosure obligations the organization is now implementing. A review of the minutes from that time show the report was not submitted to the board, he said.
Canada Soccer’s interim chief executive officer at that time was Jason deVos, now an assistant coach with Toronto FC, the city’s Major League Soccer team. The Globe previously reported that Mr. deVos had fielded a complaint in August, 2023, from one staffer about employees being asked to spy against their objections. Mr. deVos, a former player with Canada’s men’s national team, had said he could not discuss the workplace investigations, but said he introduced policy changes as a result.
Jason Devos assists in the draw during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final Draw at the Canadian Museum of History on December 6, 2014 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images
The spying scandal cost the Canadians six points in Paris — the equivalent of two wins at the Olympics — and a $315,000 fine, and prompted the federal government to withhold some of Canada Soccer’s funding. The women’s team went home without a medal for the first time since 2008 after losing to Germany in the quarterfinals.
“It has and will continue to take some time to process, heal, find the words and step back in to a public setting but I felt I should say something irrespective of ongoing circumstances,” Ms. Priestman wrote in her Instagram post.
“I know that amazing group was ready to reach the top again this summer but in many ways what they did was even more special under such difficult circumstances.”
