Canada Loses Olympic Drone-Spying Appeal

After the FIFA Appeals Committee issued its decision sanctioning Canada Soccer, the coach and two technical analysts for the potential breach of Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Article 6.1. of the Regulations Olympic Football Tournaments Games of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 Final Competition (ROFT Paris), an appeal was filed by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer to set aside the six point deduction upon the women’s representative team’s standing in their group in the Olympic tournaments. The appeal was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The coach and analysts’ part of the Canadian Soccer team delegation had been found to be using drones to film training sessions of their rivals for surveillance of their preparation in advance of a group game between the teams, which was against the principles of fair play, security, safety and reputation.  In its appeal to the CAS, the Canada Soccer team accepted the violation but contended that the points deduction was grossly disproportionate and since the players had no role in the wrongdoing they should not be scapegoated.

The CAS, while dismissing the appeal, pointed out that the sanction could only be interfered with in cases of arbitrariness, but arbitrariness is not found where there is a mere disagreement with a specific sanction. Further, a greater sanction could have been imposed, such as expulsion from the competition or forfeiture of games already played, but instead a nuanced approach had been taken given the circumstances, and a deterrent sanction was needed to maintain the sanctity of the sport.

In the wake of massive drone usage, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had also issued a press release ahead of the Paris Olympics highlighting the safety risks associated with the use of drones and sharing information on the French Airspace restrictions as well as the local airspace restrictions.