Julius Okorie
Reigning Champions, Canada, completed quarterfinals pairings of the women football event of the ongoing Olympics despite losing six points via FIFA deduction over the use of drone to spy on New Zealand.
Canada played three games and won all three earning nine points in the bargain but the deduction left them with three points thus finishing 2nd behind France who won two matches and lost won one to Canada.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelVanessa Gilles scored in the 62nd minute to give Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia and send the team into the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
“Chances were stacked against us, but we pulled through, we stayed together through it all and we have seen results of that,” Gilles said after the victory.
Canada, , will face Germany in the quarter-finals on Saturday in Marseille.
Earlier in the day, Canada lost their bid to overturn the FIFA-ordered points deduction for filming a New Zealand practice session before the teams were due to meet at the Olympics.
READ ALSO: Drone Scandal: FIFA Hammers Canada AS Coach Loses Salary
The drone-spying scandal threatens to spread beyond the Olympics to the men’s team at the 2026 World Cup, which Canada will co-host alongside the United States and Mexico.
Fifa on Wednesday published its judge’s document with detailed evidence to explain the sweeping Olympic punishments.
In addition to the points deduction, there were one-year bans from global football for head coach Bev Priestman, an assistant coach and a performance analyst who flew the spying drone.
Spying was something the Canada women’s team “has ‘always done’ and it was the ‘difference between winning and losing,’” Fifa appeals judge Neil Eggleston wrote in a 26-page document detailing evidence and witness statements to help explain the verdict. Actions by the Canadian team at the Olympics were “inexcusable and unacceptable,” wrote Eggleston.
African flag bearers Nigeria and Zambia bowed out of the competition on Wednesday with the Copper Queens of Zambia conceding 13 goals and scoring 6 while Super Falcons conceeded five goals scoring one against Japan thanks to Jennifer Echegini.
The take home for Zambia is impressive performance by team captain Barbara Banda who scored another hat-trick completing three hat-tricks in two Olympic appearances.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Falcons Lose 3-1 To Japan Crash Out Of Olympics
Banda who bagged military promotion for her contributions to the Copper Queens just before heading to the Olympics did all she could to see the team advance to the knockout stage to no avails. The team now returns to Lusaka to look forward to another opportunity to appear at the next Olympics in 2028.
With the Group matches now over, the eight countries that made it to the quarterfinals are United States, France, Canada, Colombia and Germany. Others are Brazil, Japan and Spain.
Here is the full Quarterfinal Fixtures to be played on August 3, 2024
United States Vs Japan
Canada vs Germany
Spain vs Colombia
France Vs Brazil
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
