She's been given a second act—in the country whose team she'd spied on.
In the long arc of sport, disgrace rarely writes the final chapter. Bev Priestman, the English coach who authorized drone surveillance of New Zealand's training session during the 2024 Paris Olympics and was stripped of her role leading Canada's women's team, has completed her FIFA ban and returned to football — not in exile, but in Wellington, the very country whose trust she violated. At 39, with an Olympic gold already on her record, she now leads Wellington Phoenix's women's side, a club searching for direction, in a nation that has chosen repair over resentment.
- A drone over a closed training session at the Paris Olympics unraveled a decorated coaching career almost overnight, costing Priestman both her job and a year of her professional life.
- The scandal carried a particular sting — Canada, the reigning Olympic champions she had led to gold in 2021, dismissed her as the full weight of the breach became clear.
- Rather than fading into obscurity, Priestman has been handed a second chance in the most pointed of locations: New Zealand, the nation whose session was spied upon.
- Wellington Phoenix, finishing ninth of twelve last season, are gambling that her experience outweighs her recent history, with chairman Rob Morrison openly acknowledging the club has weighed the circumstances.
- Personal roots deepen the unlikely homecoming — Priestman previously worked in New Zealand's football development and is married to a former Football Ferns player now serving as the Phoenix academy director.
Bev Priestman has signed a two-year deal to coach Wellington Phoenix's women's team, ending a year away from football that followed one of the Paris Olympics' stranger scandals. As Canada's women's soccer coach, she had reached the summit of her profession — guiding the team to Olympic gold in 2021 — before authorizing drone surveillance of New Zealand's closed training session during the 2024 Games. When the breach was uncovered, FIFA issued a one-year ban and Canada terminated her contract.
The ban now served, Priestman's return carries an unmistakable irony: she is rebuilding in the country whose team she had spied on. Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand's only professional women's club, finished ninth of twelve in the A-League Women last season and is looking to her track record as a catalyst for change. Chairman Rob Morrison acknowledged the circumstances plainly, signaling the club had made a deliberate choice to move forward rather than look away.
Priestman is not a stranger to New Zealand. She previously served as the Football Federation's director of football development, and her marriage to Emma Humphries — a former Football Ferns midfielder and current Phoenix academy director — gives her ties that go well beyond the professional. In her first public remarks since the ban lifted, she spoke of gratitude and responsibility, framing the Phoenix's singular status as New Zealand's only professional women's side as something that demands ambition. Whether she can translate that sense of purpose into results, and lift the club from the lower reaches of the table, is the question the season ahead will answer.
Bev Priestman is back. The 39-year-old English coach has signed a two-year deal to lead Wellington Phoenix's women's team, marking her return to football after a year away from the game. The ban that kept her sidelined has now expired—a consequence of her role in one of the Paris Olympics' most peculiar scandals, one that cost her the job she had built.
Priestman had been Canada's women's soccer coach, a position of considerable prestige. She'd guided the team to Olympic gold in 2021, a moment that defined her career. But in the summer of 2024, during the Paris Games, someone flew a drone over New Zealand's closed training session. The aircraft was gathering intelligence on the opposition. When the breach was discovered, it became clear that Priestman had authorized the surveillance. FIFA responded with a one-year ban from all football-related activity. Canada fired her.
Now, having served her suspension, she's been given a second act—in the country whose team she'd spied on. The irony is not lost, though no one dwells on it. Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand's only professional women's soccer team, finished ninth out of twelve clubs in the A-League Women this past season. The club is betting that Priestman's experience and track record can reverse that trajectory. Rob Morrison, the Phoenix chairman, framed the appointment as a statement of intent. "We understand the circumstances," he said, a careful acknowledgment that the club has weighed the scandal and decided to move forward.
Priestman is not entirely new to New Zealand. She worked there previously as the Football Federation's director of football development. More significantly, she married Emma Humphries, a former midfielder for the New Zealand national team who now serves as the Phoenix academy director. The personal ties run deep enough that returning here, rather than seeking a position elsewhere, made sense.
In her first public comments since the ban lifted, Priestman expressed gratitude for the opportunity and spoke of responsibility. She acknowledged that Wellington Phoenix is the sole professional women's team in the country, a distinction that carries weight. The club, she suggested, has a duty to represent New Zealand women's soccer on a stage that matters. Whether she can deliver on that ambition—whether the team can climb from ninth place to genuine contention—remains to be seen. But the door has opened. The year away is finished. The work begins again.
Citações Notáveis
We understand the circumstances and we're really comfortable with this appointment. This is a step up in an exciting era for the Phoenix women's team.— Rob Morrison, Wellington Phoenix chairman
We have a responsibility now to fly the flag for this country and try to do something special.— Bev Priestman
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How does a coach come back from something like this? It's not a performance failure—it's a breach of trust.
That's the harder thing to rebuild. A losing season, you can fix with better tactics and recruitment. But you have to convince people that your judgment is sound again, that you won't cut corners when the pressure rises.
And yet Wellington Phoenix hired her anyway. What does that tell you?
That they believe in second chances, or that they're desperate enough to take a calculated risk. Probably both. They finished ninth. They need a jolt.
She spied on New Zealand. Now she's coaching in New Zealand. Doesn't that feel strange?
It would, except she already had roots there. She'd worked in their system before. She married into the community. It's not like she's parachuting in as a stranger. There's a relationship there that predates the scandal.
Do you think the ban was enough punishment?
That depends on what you think the punishment should accomplish. If it's deterrence, a year is meaningful—it cost her a major job and her reputation. If it's about making her suffer, no punishment is ever enough. But she's back now, and the question isn't whether she's paid enough. It's whether she's learned.