NICE, France – The Canadian national women’s soccer team head coach told an external human resources consultant who works with Canada Soccer in March that spying on opponents is something the team has “always done” and it was “the difference between winning and losing”.

Bev Priestman’s emailed comments came after a team’s performance analyst told her he was uncomfortable with spying for “moral and reputational reasons”. The coach wrote to the consultant that same day espionage is “something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole operation on the men’s side with regards to it.”