OPINION
New Zealand should be careful about pushing for further sanctions for Team Canada following the Dronegate
affair.
Canada’s clumsy attempt to spy on the Football Ferns has been massive pre-Olympic news, as anything relating to spying, integrity and bending the rules always will be. It’s a bad look on so many levels, especially with the fact it wasn’t a single incident.
But perspective needs to be maintained. Head coach Beverley Priestman, analyst Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander have been expelled from the Canadian camp.
In a statement on Friday, the Canadians acknowledged their investigation has found a drone had been used to spy on opposition earlier than at this year’s Olympic Games.
Financial sanctions are also expected, coming from both the IOC and Fifa. But New Zealand Football wants more. It believes Canada should lose the points accrued from Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Football Ferns and the Herald has even heard rumours from sources in Paris that NZF has suggested the defending champions should be expelled from the tournament given the breaches. NZF has given no further comment on the matter.
But is that what we want? Is that really our approach as a country? Do we want to punish an entire squad of players who have worked for years to get to Paris, for something that was completely out of their control?
That would feel neither right nor just.
It seems implausible that the players would have known about the use of drones for spying. Given the obvious disparity in class, Canada had no need to glean extra information from New Zealand, while the idea that a “drone drop” would be officially sanctioned, given it is almost certain to be discovered, is hard to believe.
But the tournament still needs to be played on the field rather than some artificial manipulation of results or outcomes. It would be different if Canada had fielded an ineligible player, or such like, but this situation is more about optics (which are terrible) rather than tangible, material advantages that were accrued to the Canadian team.
We also need to be realistic about the effect of this incident, while unique and unusual, on the Ferns squad.
They are professional athletes in a global sport at the biggest sporting event in the world. While this would have been jarring at first – because it was so hard to fathom – most of the players would have brushed it off straight away because they had a match to prepare for at an Olympics.
Football is all about overcoming distractions, from performing in front of hostile crowds to ignoring or managing on-field provocations from opponents. At times in this morning’s match, the Ferns looked like they had been galvanised with energy and industry – “there was a little bit of extra feeling probably” admitted coach Michael Mayne – but not for long enough.
Mackenzie Barry’s superb 13th-minute goal was a massive fillip, but holding on from there was always going to be tough. The defensive application was impressive, but never going to be the sole source of success. The inability to hold on to possession was disappointing, especially in the second half when the ball seemed to be surrendered almost immediately.
That meant constant and incessant pressure. There was a lack of structure and the Ferns weren’t compact enough without the ball. There was also a lack of judgment, shown by the decision to let midfielder Katie Kitching take a late free kick in a dangerous situation when Macey Fraser is the best dead-ball striker the team has had for a generation.
Mayne was disappointed. He admitted the occasion “had got the better of us, with our work on the ball. We need to have a good look at how we can be better on the ball.”
He felt their transition game let the team down, leading to constant defensive pressure. Mayne didn’t have any further details on an injury to Fraser, who left the field late in the match in obvious pain after coming on as a second-half substitute.
“It was unfortunate to see her come off. My understanding is that it is probably the other ankle that was injured, but we will assess things later and see how her recovery goes.”
