After the incident, the Canadian Olympic Committee began an investigation, and it turned out that a similar incident had actually occurred earlier, last Friday, and the assistant coach, Jesmine Mander and uncertified analyst Joseph Lombardi He was immediately sent home from Saint-Étienne.
After what happened, the captain of the Canadian team, Bev Priestman Although he was not found guilty in the case, in addition to apologizing to New Zealanders, he voluntarily indicated that he would not be on the bench for Canada's first match against New Zealand on Thursday. In addition, the Code of Conduct Committee (COC) also required the remaining staff members with the team to participate in mandatory ethics training.
“On behalf of our entire team, I would like to first apologise to the players, New Zealand team managers and professional coaching staff. What happened does not represent the values that Canada stands for. I am ultimately responsible for the behaviour of our team members and have therefore decided not to perform my coaching duties on the bench for the match against New Zealand. I do so with the best interests of both teams in mind and to ensure that the match is played in the best possible manner possible.” – Priestman said.
In the women's soccer tournament at the Olympics, defending champions Canada will face New Zealand on Thursday at 17:00.
