The women’s football team of Canada has filed an appeal to challenge the deduction of six points in their Olympic group following the use of a drone to surveil a rival team’s training. However, they have opted not to contest the one-year ban imposed on coach Bev Priestman.
The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer are expecting a resolution from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) around 11:00 BST on Wednesday.
In a statement on Monday, Cas noted that Canada is seeking a ruling “either nullifying or lessening the points deduction.”
Cas further stated: “The applicants do not seek any relief concerning the one-year bans placed on the officials.”
Currently, Canada is in third place in Group A, with no points due to the deduction, but a win against Colombia in their last group match would guarantee their advancement to the quarter-finals.
Fifa imposed a fine of £175,720 on the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and suspended the England-born coach, who had already been removed from her position as Olympic head coach, on Saturday.
The incident involving the drone over New Zealand’s training ground was labeled as a “breach” of Fifa’s regulations by the governing body.
Additionally, CSA officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander have been subjected to a one-year suspension by Fifa.
Under the guidance of assistant coach Andy Spence in Priestman’s absence, Canada secured victories against New Zealand and the host nation France in their first two matches of Group A.
