Canada soccer star Christine Sinclair comments on drone scandal

PARIS –

Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.

New Zealand complained that Canada staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening fixture at the Olympics, which the Canadians won 2-1.

The incident caused head coach Bev Priestman to be suspended by Canada Soccer, the sport’s national governing body, and sent home from the Games.

“It’s unfortunate that the players from our national team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal,” Sinclair, soccer’s all-time leading international scorer, wrote on Instagram.

“I want to be clear that having been a national team player for 23 years, we were never shown or discussed drone footage in team or individual meetings I’ve been present for.”

Sinclair, part of the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, retired from international soccer last year after winning 331 caps and scoring 190 goals.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Ken Ferris)