Canada Soccer Part VII: Copa America Semifinal Edition

[robertmac43]

Should have been harder bann. Olympics are about fair play not cheating.

The ultimate punishment would have been taking away the 2021 Gold. Thankfully they didn't do that.

 

[CuuuJooo]

The coaching suspensions are fair, but I hate the points deduction. It feels super-reactionary given the lack of evidence that Dronegate did anything to help the current team, who are now basically f*cked as far as advancement is concerned.

And, not that it makes what Canada did even a TINY bit right, but I hope that there will be a full investigation to see what other teams are up to. No one wants a repeat of 1988 — Ben Johnson becomes a pariah for doping and then it turns out that every single other guy in the race was also cheating.

 

[luiginb]

I have no dog in this fight, but getting an automatic loss against New Zealand seems like a fair punishment. Maybe they can appeal the decision and have it halved?

 

[hockey20000]

points deduction is a joke by fifa of all lmao a even more corrupt organization lame. just fire the coaching staff and let the girls play .

 

[Cloned]

They’ll probably appeal it and result in a 3 point deduction after appeal. FIFA likely made the penalty decision considering it’s likely to be reduced on appeal.

 

[al secord]

Hopefully Giannis didn't notice any drones flying over his head today

 

[NyQuil]

I’m fine with the punishment.

Canada deserves whatever comes its way.

If this was a first offence I’d get a 3 point suspension, but as part of a pattern of behaviour I’m not surprised that it’s more severe.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Olympics are about fair play not cheating.

 

[EpochLink]

Shameful for the program to go through this, coaching and management should be kicked to the curb. Both the men and womans national teams have had the privileges of providing this country a viable soccer team in the past few years.

This scandal sucks, shame on them to let this thing go out of hand.

 

[robertmac43]

The coaching suspensions are fair, but I hate the points deduction. It feels super-reactionary given the lack of evidence that Dronegate did anything to help the current team, who are now basically f*cked as far as advancement is concerned.

FIFA are trying to make an example here. Seems silly, there is plenty of evidence of drone use happening at the club level.

What's the timing on the appeal process?

 

[gary69]

FIFA are trying to make an example here. Seems silly, there is plenty of evidence of drone use happening at the club level.

What's the timing on the appeal process?

10 days was mentioned at FIFA's website and after that an appeal to CAS. So not quickly enough to actually change anything regarding this tournament, it seems.

 

[Cloned]

10 days was mentioned at FIFA's website and after that an appeal to CAS. So not quickly enough to actually change anything regarding this tournament, it seems.

I’m sure they would fast track the appeal like they did the initial decision.

 

[canadianmagpie]

I'm completely okay with being penalized for using drones to spy on the opposition. It's underhanded and cheating to say the least.

What I am not impressed with is the amount of racist chanting from the stands and even from some players that don't amount to anything close to the punishment for this. People have been clamouring for point penalties for lack of crowd control and yet nothing has happened and this is where they make their point? I think that it shows that FIFA isn't serious about stamping out racism as much as they try to put forward. I certainly hope that this marks a stronger stance from FIFA but I think that it's just one of the smaller teams and so they think that they can get away with it. If this was Argentina, France or Brazil, I don't think the punishment is as severe.

 

[PanniniClaus]

The ultimate punishment would have been taking away the 2021 Gold. Thankfully they didn't do that.

Rob - I am not sure how deep the dig will be.. I rule nothing out.

 

[Mobiandi]

The Canadian media members involved in this story have acted embarrassingly in this whole ordeal

 

[NyQuil]

The Canadian media members involved in this story have acted embarrassingly in this whole ordeal

In what way?

Westhead investigating it? TSN attempting to downplay it?

I mean, those are the two extremes on either side and they are both members of the media.

 

[robertmac43]

The Canadian media members involved in this story have acted embarrassingly in this whole ordeal

I've never understood this take... If I had to guess this is about Westhead who has done nothing but write about the realities of the situation....

 

[al secord]

In what way?

Westhead investigating it? TSN attempting to downplay it?

I mean, those are the two extremes on either side and they are both members of the media.

Ya. The coverage from our side has been pretty fair, imo. Westhead is doing his job and you can't question his due diligence.

This is the biggest scandal at the Olympics so far, that so happens to involve a Canadian defending gold medal team.

Until another bigger news story happens, we are left to eat the embarrassment.

 

[robertmac43]

Ya. The coverage from our side has been pretty fair, imo. Westhead is doing his job and you can't question his due diligence.

This is the biggest scandal at the Olympics so far, that so happens to involve a Canadian defending gold medal team.

Until another bigger news story happens, we are left to eat the embarrassment.

Westhead has also established himself as the go to person to write about issues within the Canadian sporting landscape. He's the go to person to drop bombs about the industry so people feed him information.

 

[Mobiandi]

In what way?

Westhead investigating it? TSN attempting to downplay it?

I mean, those are the two extremes on either side and they are both members of the media.

I've never understood this take... If I had to guess this is about Westhead who has done nothing but write about the realities of the situation....

Westhead, Madani, Seixero have been throwing gas on the fire to drive clicks but when the dust settles, all that will have happened is having contributed to being yet another obstacle for the success of soccer in this country. This is truly a nothing story for anyone but New Zealand.

 

[DoyleG]

The Canadian media members involved in this story have acted embarrassingly in this whole ordeal

Place into the "What else is new" file.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

The punishment is fair. It's basically throwing the Canadian team out of the tournament without throwing them out of the tournament.

I feel horrible for the players though, as I assume they had no clue or knowledge of this going on. They've worked hard these last few years for this moment, a childhood dream for many, and some of whom are defending Olympic gold, and now they've had the rug pulled out under their feet. Going to be a lot of distrust now and going forward with the players and the Canadian soccer committee.

 

[PanniniClaus]

As I sit here and see Bev's latest... co-operating fully with all investigations.. I think the Gold Medal from 21 is clearly under threat and this could run even deeper than that. Marsch may actually be the only one that survives this... we need to hope the hell he does.

Rick Westhead will surely lead the charge to make sure we are buried.. He will do it with glee.

 

[NyQuil]

Great turnover, momentum going forward and then just give the ball to the other team under no pressure whatsoever.

 

[Blender]

Canada is pressing well enough and have been solid defensively, but the constant turnovers as soon as they try and counter are maddening.