FIFA announced on Saturday that it had deducted six points from Canadian footballers, reigning Olympic champions and future opponents of the Blues at the Paris 2024 Games, following the New Zealand team’s drone spying scandal.

This sanction weakens the Canadians, but does not mathematically condemn them in the race for the quarter-finals. They can qualify with three points and occupy a best third place in Group A.

After France On Sunday (9pm) they will face the Colombia Wednesday for the last group day.

Your trainer, Beverly Priestmanand two other members of the team, including the drone pilot, are also there “excluded from any football-related activity for a period of one year” said the world football association in a press release.

Before this sanction, the coach had already been suspended from the Olympic Games.

According to FIFA, this is the football association “Holding responsibility for non-compliance with applicable regulations” of the moment because they “It was not ensured that officials participating in the tournament respected the ban on drone flights over training facilities.”

On Wednesday, a member of the Canadian women’s soccer team, also sanctioned by FIFA, was sentenced to eight months in prison after a drone flew over a New Zealand training session before Thursday’s match in Saint-Etienne.

The use of the images revealed that this 43-year-old man had already filmed these players the previous Saturday under the same circumstances at the Michon Stadium in Saint-Etienne. The employee said in police custody “that the videos enabled him to know the tactics of the opposing team,” according to the Saint-Etienne public prosecutor’s office.

“As Canadians, these are not our values, our country. We are not cheaters. It was very difficult, but as players we knew how to stick together.”the defender explained on Thursday after the match against New Zealand Vanessa Gilles, add “It’s something that will stay with us for a long time.”

After two defeats during the Olympic Games against the Canada, In 2012 for the bronze medal and in 2016 in the quarter-finals, the Bleues d’Herve Renard want revenge on Sunday.

The FFF did not want to comment on this sanction.