PARIS — The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed Canada’s appeal of a six-point penalty against its Olympic women’s soccer team.
Governing body FIFA docked six points from the women’s team after a Canadian staffer was caught using a drone to spy on New Zealand team practices before the start of competition at the Paris Games.
The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer asked the arbitration court to cancel or reduce the points deduction, arguing it was disproportionate and unfairly punishes the players when there is no suggestion they were involved.
Canada Soccer was also fined more than $300,000 and three coaches — including head coach Bev Priestman — were suspended for one year.
The decision means the undefeated Canadian team must win its game against Colombia on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT if it wants to reach the next stage of the Olympic tournament.
The court arbitrators said they would publish the grounds for their decision at a later date.
“While disappointed in the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for their incredible resilience and grit over the course of this tournament, and look forward to cheering them on in today’s match against Colombia,” the COC said in a statement after the decision was published.
Canada Soccer also released a statement later Wednesday.
“We are disappointed with today’s appeal decision and continue to believe that our players should not have been unnecessarily punished for actions that were not their own,” Canada Soccer president Peter Augruso said.
Canada Soccer also announced lawyer Sonia Regenbogen has been retained to lead its investigation into spying.
Regenbogen is an expert in conducting independent workplace investigations, Canada Soccer said.