Bev Priestman, the disgraced former Canada coach who has been temporarily banned over her alleged role in the Olympics drones scandal, has said all the top 10 teams spy on rivals.
Priestman was removed from her role by the Canadian Olympic Committee and axed for the remainder of the Games after two of her assistant coaches used drones to spy on opponent New Zealands practice sessions before their opening game.
The embattled Britishwoman was later hit with a one-year ban by Fifa from all football-related activities, along with officials Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, while Canada, the reigning Olympic champions, were docked six points.
However, a win on Wednesday evening saw Canada through to the quarter-finals despite losing the six points because of the spying scandal in an unlikely turn of events.
Priestman has pledged to cooperate with a Fifa investigation into the scandal and has denied any involvement in it.
But new emails written in March have been published by Fifa in which Priestman makes it clear she believes all the top sides are guilty of spying on opponents.
It comes as Canadas appeal against their soccer teams points deduction at the Paris Games amid a drone scandal was thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday.
The documents show Priestman, who served as an assistant coach to the senior England womens team between 2018 and 2020, seeking clarification about spying tactics after an analyst refused to take part in the practice.
Priestman named an individual that had been outstanding at spying on other teams and claimed the practice was widespread across mens and womens football.
She wrote: Seeking your advice and input here regarding this formal email on spying. Its something the analyst has always done and I know there is a whole spying operation on the mens side with regards to it.
Priestman added: Yesterday in a meeting when discussing, I asked [individuals name] to propose an alternative solution as for scouting it can be the difference between winning and losing and all the top ten teams do it.
I received this more formal email this morning and so just after guidance really as to what to do from a HR standpoint. I can do or do I need to find another solution in resourcing? Its a tricky one and its the reason I feel.. Thanks, Bev.
The unnamed performance analyst had previously resisted Priestmans request, refusing on moral grounds and because they feared for their reputation if they were found out.
As discussed yesterday, in terms of the spying conversation, I came off the meeting with clarity that you understand my reasons for me being unwilling to do this moving forward, they said.
Priestman was previously assistant manager to the England womens team, when she supported the then head coach, Phil Neville.
However, it is understood that the Football Association do not follow the approach used by Priestman.
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