Suspended Canada coach Bev Priestman did not take responsibility for her role in the Olympic Games drone saga, says one of her team’s senior players.
Defender Gabby Carle has told the online Footy Prime show: “She told us she was going to take all responsibility. You want candid? In my opinion, she didn’t.”
Carle and teammate striker Evelyne Viens have given one of the first accounts of what happened within the squad after members of the coaching staff were found to have used a drone to spy on group rivals New Zealand.
Priestman and two support staff have since been banned from all forms of football for a year, while an investigation continues into Canada’s previous use of drones.
Main photo: Bev Priestman … suspended for 12 months.
“I think she (Priestman) kind of went around and I don’t think that was okay,” Carle told the show.
“At the end of the day, whatever happened to her, happened. But I think initially we just thought, ‘Okay, this is being handled. Our coaches are dealing with this. Our head coach is dealing with this. It’s under control’.
“And then the very next day, we see the press release and we realize, ‘Oh, accountability is not being taken’. Then it just kept getting worse and worse and worse.”
Viens said she hoped the players would not have their reputations damaged by events in which they took no part.
“I really hope the whole world doesn’t think we’re cheaters because we’re not.
“We don’t play for the money, we don’t play for that, we just play for our badge and representing our country and making people proud. I just really hope that people of the world don’t think we’re cheaters.”
WATCH: How Ferns’ Rebekah Stott sparked Olympic Games drone investigation >>>>
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READ MORE: Bans, a fine and six points docked as Canada pay price for using drones >>>>
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This story was first published on August 22, 2024.
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