Canada qualify despite six-point deduction

Canada qualified for the quarter-finals of the Olympics women’s football tournament – hours after losing their appeal against a six-point deduction after a drone was used to spy on a rival team’s training session.

The Canadians were docked six points while coach Bev Priestman and officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander were banned from any football-related activity for one year after New Zealand lodged a complaint about drones flying over their training sessions.

While Canada accepted the bans for their backroom staff, they argued the points deduction was too severe.

But the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the appeal on Wednesday.

However, Canada – who won Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago – won all three matches to advance as Group A runners-up, behind leaders France.

Canada beat Colombia 1-0 on Wednesday to qualify.

However, Canada Soccer said it was “disappointed” with the appeal’s dismissal.

In a statement after the decision, it said the governing body “continue to believe that our players should not have been unnecessarily punished for actions that were not their own”.

English coach Priestman was removed as Olympic head coach on Saturday while Fifa fined Canada’s Soccer Association £175,720 for the incident.

Assistant coach Andy Spence is managing the side in Priestman’s absence.