Former USMNT coaching candidate Jesse Marsch addresses Canada drone scandal ahead of USA friendly

Canada's women's national team's attempt to spy on opponents during the Olympics kicked off a wide-ranging Canadian soccer scandal

By Pardeep Cattry Sep 4, 2024 at 5:42 pm ET• 3 min read

Canada men's national team head coach Jesse Marsch broke his silence on the drone scandal that has rocked the nation's soccer scene, describing it as a "sad" situation for both the men's and women's national teams.

Allegations that Canadian national teams use drones to spy on their opponents came to light on July 24 when women's national team assistant Joseph Lombardi was arrested by French authorities for flying a drone over New Zealand's training session before the two teams were scheduled to play at the Olympics. FIFA later punished Canada with a six-point ban during the group stage, as well as a year-long ban for Lombardi, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and head coach Bev Priestman.

Marsch, who was hired as the men's national team coach in May, said he found out about the scandal the same way the public did. He was taking time off after Canada's fourth-place finish at the Copa America and traveling to Italy, where he lived before taking the job.

"I didn't know a lot about what was going on and how it was going and all these different things," he said on the latest episode of Call It What You Want, a CBS Sports Golazo Network podcast he previously co-hosted. "I was kind of getting information the same way that you guys were because when all that was happening, we had finished Copa and I'd been in Canada for different things and then I got back to Italy so I was getting information sort of the same way."