sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

CONCACAF confirms 2022 complaint against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ for alleged drone spying

A complaint was filed against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, alleging the Canadian women's team had used a drone to watch a rival country's training session.
885f9b439c3b4a546752ca34195783b15b2c388fd9b8b9f36eacbcf932ec6640
Panama's goalkeeper, Yenith Bailey, centre, catches the ball during a CONCACAF Women's Championship soccer match against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in Monterrey, Mexico, Friday, July 8, 2022. A complaint was filed against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, alleging the Canadian team had used a drone to watch a rival country's training session. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Fernando Llano

A complaint was filed against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, alleging the Canadian women's team had used a drone to watch a rival country's training session.

CONCACAF confirmed the complaint was made against sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ by a rival federation, but said nothing came of it.

The federation in question, believed to be Panama, made the allegation after seeing a drone at training that did not belong to them.

"They suspected it was sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½," said a CONCACAF spokesman.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Soccer denied any involvement when contacted by CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

Given the lack of evidence, the complaint did not make it to CONCACAF's disciplinary committee.

The Canadian women beat Panama 1-0 in group play — on July 8, 2022 — and eventually finished runner-up to the U.S. at the eight-team tournament, which served as a World Cup qualifier.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, which lost 1-0 in the final in Monterrey, won the tournament's Fair Play Award.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press