A complaint was filed against Canada 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 Canada 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 Canada," said a CONCACAF spokesman.
Canada 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.
Canada, 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
