COC is exploring rights of appeal after FIFA strips Canadian soccer team of 6 points | Canada News Media
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COC is exploring rights of appeal after FIFA strips Canadian soccer team of 6 points

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SAINT-ETIENNE, France – The Canadian Olympic Committee said it was “exploring rights of appeal” on Saturday after a FIFA ruling docked six points from the Canadian women’s soccer team due to a drone spying scandal at the Paris Games.

The sport’s governing body also said Canada Soccer would be fined C$313,000 and three coaches, including head coach Bev Priestman, would be banned for one year each.

Two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s practices before the teams played their opening game last Thursday, a 2-1 Canada win.

Canada Soccer was held responsible for not ensuring its staff complied with tournament rules.

“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team who as far as we understand played no role in this matter,” said COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker. “In support of the athletes, together with Canada Soccer, we are exploring rights of appeal related to the six-point deduction at this Olympic tournament.”

Priestman, who led Canada to the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021, already was suspended by the national federation and removed from the Olympic tournament.

“Canada Soccer is disappointed with the impact of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision on our athletes,” said Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue. “We are exploring options to appeal on the basis that it is excessively punitive towards our women’s national team – who were not involved in any unethical behaviour.”

The FIFA decision came down after the Canadian team wrapped its late-afternoon training session at Stade Auguste Dury ahead of Sunday’s game against host France.

As the session ended, acting head coach Andy Spence spoke to the challenges the team has faced over the last week.

“Obviously what has transpired has been very unfortunate and difficult,” he said. “For that, I think it’s an opportunity for us to say that that doesn’t align personally with what I believe in, with what Canada Soccer believes in, the values that we believe in and the team believes in, and I had no party to it.

“I think now all of my energy and all of my focus has to be on pushing the team and helping the team move forward.”

The coaches and Canada Soccer can challenge their sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s special Olympic court in Paris. That tribunal is set up for urgent hearings and verdicts at the Olympics.

The points deduction, if upheld by CAS judges, does not eliminate Canada from the tournament.

It could mean the team must win all three games in Group A and hope to advance with three points, likely as runner-up in the standings.

FIFA fast-tracked its own disciplinary process by asking its appeals judges to handle the case. FIFA judges found Priestman and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play.”

Like Priestman, team analyst Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were suspended from taking part in any soccer-related activity for one year.

Canada Soccer was found responsible for failing to respect the applicable FIFA regulations, the statement said, in connection with its failure to ensure the compliance of its participating officials of the (tournament) with the prohibition on flying drones over any training sites.

Canada is scheduled to play its final group game on Wednesday against Colombia in Nice.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.

With files from The Associated Press.

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on X.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Canada’s Denis Shapovalov wins Belgrade Open for his second ATP Tour title

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BELGRADE, Serbia – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.

The 25-year-old Shapovalov beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Belgrade Open final on Saturday.

It’s Shapovalov’s second ATP Tour title after winning the Stockholm Open in 2019. He is the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour-level title this season.

His last appearance in a tournament final was in Vienna in 2022.

Shapovalov missed the second half of last season due to injury and spent most of this year regaining his best level of play.

He came through qualifying in Belgrade and dropped just one set on his way to winning the trophy.

Shapovalov’s best results this season were at ATP 500 events in Washington and Basel, where he reached the quarterfinals.

Medjedovic was playing in his first-ever ATP Tour final.

The 21-year-old, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF title last year, ends 2024 holding a 9-8 tour-level record on the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Talks to resume in B.C. port dispute in bid to end multi-day lockout

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VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.

The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.

The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.

The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.

The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.

MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.

In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.

“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.

“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”

In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.

“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.

The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.

“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”

The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.

A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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The Royal Canadian Legion turns to Amazon for annual poppy campaign boost

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The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.

Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.

Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.

“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.

“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”

Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.

“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.

Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.

“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”

But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.

Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.

“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.

Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.

The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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