This surely isn’t the way how Jordan Huitema and Canada would have wanted to exit the Paris Olympics. The reigning Olympic Gold medalist risking expulsion from the tournament in what has been one of the talking points for soccer in Paris. Just when you thought Argentina vs Morocco was rough, the Canucks found themselves in hot waters for flying a drone over their opponent’s camp. Talk about a unique way to cheat!

The New Zealand Football Committee filed a complaint with earlier this week, claiming a drone was being flown over their team’s training session. Local authorities in France were quick on the uptake and the drone was traced back to a staffer in the Canadian soccer women’s national team. This sent ripples across the community, with many calling for manager Bev Priestman’s head on a pike!

Both FIFA and the Canadian Association hastened the matter with Bev Priestman stripped of her position. Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker took the matter head on, addressing the situation, and admitted that the management was aware of the Paris Olympics drone scandal.

Shoemaker stated, “One of the key pieces of information was the conclusion from Canada Soccer that (Priestman) needed to be suspended based on their accumulation of facts,” Shoemaker said during Canada’s opening press conference on Friday. “I’ve seen some of the information they have, and we gathered some additional information ourselves that made me conclude that she was highly likely to have been aware of the incidents here.”

The COC CEO also admitted he would be okay if the team were sent back home after the controversy. However, from the looks of it, things won’t even come to it. The Canucks have had a horrendous campaign and risk flying back home after their upcoming game.

End of the line for Canada at Paris Olympics?

The whole drone scandal has cost Canada six points. Six! The deduction has seen the team drop to the bottom of the Paris Olympic standings. If the team needs to make it through the group stages, it will have to pick a win over France and Colombia to finish as the third-seeded team. However, even that won’t be enough, as the team will then face World Champions Spain in the QF. Talk about getting out of the pain and straight into the fire!

This could be a very poor send-off for national hero Jordan Huitema, who played a focal part in helping her team clinch the gold medal in Tokyo. What hurts more is Bev Priestman was very clear that she expects a lot from her players. Now it’s her whose actions have cost the team what could have been a fairytale ending to one of their most decorated players.