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Paris Olympics 2024


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Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

I am surprised that we could even afford a drone, did that come out of the CSA budget or did this guy get his kid to build one in his basement?

Because of winning Gold, Own the Podium funding gave the women's team almost $2.7m for Olympic prep and tournament play. Over the Paris quadrennial, the OTP funding was $8m.

That's why there are 18 coaches and support staff in France which is 1:1 ratio with the 18 player squad. Plus, drone usage to get video on your team's training sessions has become standard given the rise of analytics.

Edited by red card
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1 hour ago, shermanator said:

Canada are lucky to still be in this tournament. Priestman may not have directed this, but she needs to go. This will hang over the team no matter what result they achieve.

And as is tradition, journalists like Rick Westhead and Bruce Arthur suddenly pop out of the woodwork.

Westhead is legit, holding abusers to the fire gives him a bit of a pass to muckrake elsewhere. Arthur is a confused old man yelling at anything he doesn't understand

Anyway:

Screenshot_20240724_121111_Gmail.thumb.jpg.704ea5caba5abf2df0e8e1f5978e5747.jpg

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10 minutes ago, themodelcitizen said:

Westhead is legit, holding abusers to the fire gives him a bit of a pass to muckrake elsewhere. Arthur is a confused old man yelling at anything he doesn't understand

Anyway:

Screenshot_20240724_121111_Gmail.thumb.jpg.704ea5caba5abf2df0e8e1f5978e5747.jpg

This is JMHO, but I really don't think this is good enough.  If I'm Canada Soccer, I either put out a statement saying we've already done an internal investigation and are satisfied the action was limited to two individuals conducting completely unauthorized actions with no knowledge of others, or I send the entire coaching staff home and run the tournament with interim coaches while I do the investigation.

Conducting the investigation while the tournament is going on is not only a huge distraction, it also casts a huge cloud over the games and the results.  What if Priestman and co. win the gold, only to find three weeks later that they're all guilty of cheating and we have to fire them all?  Do we have to give back the medals?  As I understand it, FIFA is also conducting an investigation.  

And yes, Herdman was accused of the same thing back in 2021.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/honduras-canada-drone-spy-world-cup-qualifier

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Priestman was asked directly, did you know about it and she didn't answer.  So, I guess she knew.

What are the chances this is the first time Bev has done this?  Pretty slim.  And when you add the rumblings about Herdman you start to wonder if this cheating is something we've done a lot of.  

Not a good look.

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50 minutes ago, RJB said:

Priestman was asked directly, did you know about it and she didn't answer.  So, I guess she knew.

What are the chances this is the first time Bev has done this?  Pretty slim.  And when you add the rumblings about Herdman you start to wonder if this cheating is something we've done a lot of.  

Not a good look.

Is this actually true?  All I saw was her statement "By no means did I direct the individuals. I'm still learning the details and obviously this is all unfolding..." 

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2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Pretty cynical from NZ here as well. Ask for them to be removed from the games if you want them to be sanctioned. Not an outcome which only benefits you and not your other group opponents.

Canada not getting any points for a result against NZ can benefit any of the group members, not just NZ.

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2 hours ago, RJB said:

Priestman was asked directly, did you know about it and she didn't answer.  So, I guess she knew.

What are the chances this is the first time Bev has done this?  Pretty slim.  And when you add the rumblings about Herdman you start to wonder if this cheating is something we've done a lot of.  

Not a good look.

Not necessarely, there is such a thing as professional negligence. I.e., she could very well not be guilty of authorizing it but to not have to crossed her Ts to prevent something like this, which a coach at her level is REALLY responsible for doing, and that would be more then enough to justify her firing in my book.

At the very least its worth noting that from a legal standpoint, the French police took the admission of guilt from the drone operator that he acted out of his own initiative as credible and exonorated anyone else from it, which would make the argument that Priestman's main sin is to have failed to prevent it rather than ordering it.

As for the old Honduras stuff... Considering all the distasteful stuff that happens when we are there and that their federation is seemingly ok with (as I don't believe they have done anything to prevent it) and how I have seen their fans and media being big on projection I'll just assume its an instance of the later and that the alignment with something bad someone did for the CWNT is pure coincidence until Honduras or someone else can provide concrete evidences of their claim that has yet to be forthcoming.

Edited by phil03
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1 minute ago, Admiral Murray said:

How could Priestman not know about it? What would be the point of going to those lengths for drone footage if the Head Coach didnt go over it when preparing for match?  I'm not buying that this stopped at Assistant Coach.

I could see a scenario where the random dude, or the assistant coach, thought they were showing initiative and that Priestman would just accept it when they would arrive with the footing, perhaps be rewarded for taking personal risks. There are people like that, sadly...

Which isn't to say Priestman didn't know, or that she wouldn't hold responsibility for creating a work environment where someone could think that kind of behavior would be welcome, but we should assume guilt IMO.

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I think the players' opinions matter most here.  For all we know, they back Priestman and would be demoralized with her and the other coaches being sacked.  Are we ready to throw away this Olympics for them for the sake of optics?  There is no way they are going to win with a fresh slate of coaches and trainers who don't even know them.

Edited by rkomar
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2 hours ago, phil03 said:

Which isn't to say Priestman didn't know, or that she wouldn't hold responsibility for creating a work environment where someone could think that kind of behavior would be welcome, but we should assume guilt IMO.

Well, the scenarios are: 1) She did know what her staff were doing and thus was a party to and ultimately responsible for the cheating, or; 2) She didn't know what her staff were doing, which reflects poorly on her leadership, especially since they were engaged in bald-faced cheating.

Either way, as someone else said, I don't know how Priestman can continue - either she's a cheater or she's grossly incompetent.

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8 hours ago, GasPed said:

Is this actually true?  All I saw was her statement "By no means did I direct the individuals. I'm still learning the details and obviously this is all unfolding..." 

It was an interview on the TSN website, I can't find it now.  It didn't sound like a TSN reporter that I recognize.  They asked if she knew about it, and just went straight into an apology. 

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