‘Unaccredited analyst’ at centre of Olympic drone scandal is senior Canada Soccer official

The Canada Soccer staffer at the centre of the Olympic Games drone scandal appears to have a more formal, senior role in the organization than what officials previously let on this week, according to online records reviewed by CBC News.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) on Wednesday identified Joseph Lombardi as an “unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer” who had been removed from the team and was to be “sent home immediately” amid allegations that someone connected to the women’s team had twice used a drone to watch and record New Zealand’s team while they practised. 

The COC said in the same statement it had also removed from the team and sent home Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to whom Lombardi reported. 

French prosecutors said police had on Monday morning arrested a man matching Lombardi’s description near the stadium in Saint-Étienne, where New Zealand’s team was practising. They found footage of that practice and of an earlier one.

But a COC news release issued on July 1 listed Lombardi as an official member of the women’s national team’s six-person coaching staff, led by head coach Bev Priestman.

Canada Soccer spokesperson Paulo Senra confirmed on Thursday afternoon that Lombardi remains the director of the federation’s Women’s Excel program, described on its website as a means for players to progress from youth levels to the national team.

In a video posted online last month by Ontario Soccer, the provincial body’s manager of match official development, David Barrie, said Lombardi “served as Canada national’s team staff coach, performing… analysis for both the men’s and women’s national team programs — senior and youth levels.”

According to a staff list posted online for a CONCACAF Nations League qualifying match in 2019, Lombardi served as “performance analyst support” for the men’s national team, under then-head coach John Herdman.

A Canadian Press report from 2018 referred to Lombardi as a “key member of Herdman’s team.”

In 2021, the Honduran men’s team stopped a training session in Toronto ahead of its World Cup qualifier against Canada after spotting a drone above the field, according to reports in Honduran media at the time.

“I’d imagine there’s probably a lot of people in Canada that fly drones, I’m sure,” Herdman told reporters in September 2021. “And when a big team like Honduras turn up I’m sure people are probably interested in what they’re doing when they come into our country.”

Priestman served as assistant coach to Herdman, when he led Canada’s women’s national team. Both coaches were raised in Consett, a small town in the north of England.

Priestman has apologized for the drone flights and said she did not “direct” those responsible. She withdrew from Olympic coaching duties for one game and did not attend her team’s 2-1 win over New Zealand on Thursday.

Asked by CBC Sports on Wednesday whether she was aware of the drone use, Priestman did not directly respond.

“I would just like to apologize to our country but also to New Zealand,” she said. “There’s deep ills regarding this moment, and those don’t necessarily sit directly with me, but ultimately I am accountable for any action that happens inside this camp.”

COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker said earlier he believes Priestman “had no involvement, no knowledge” of the flights. 

“Those who had the direct involvement in the incident we removed from Team Canada,” he said. 

Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, says it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Lombardi, Mander and Priestman.

“Did she know about this? Unfortunately, if she did, I feel like maybe she should be sent home,” said Carrie Serwetnyk, a former member of the women’s national team who was inducted into Canada’s soccer hall of fame.

French prosecutors said the man who was arrested had accepted a suspended sentence of eight months’ imprisonment, after he was charged with maintaining an unmanned aircraft over a prohibited area.