Canadian Coach Implicated in Drone-Spying Scandal Resigns Abruptly

John Herdman, the former Canada coach who was implicated in the drone-spying scandal, has abruptly resigned as manager of MLS side Toronto FC.

His reputation has been tarnished somewhat after he was caught up in the investigation into a Canada Soccer staffer spying on their New Zealand opponents with a drone at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The scandal saw head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi all handed a one-year FIFA ban.Emma Hayes fulfills national anthem promise before USWNT vs. England friendly.

Herman denied any wrongdoing in the scandal given his previous role as head coach. He declined to publicly address allegations of a link to a culture of spying within Canada Soccer but maintained his record was clean at the Olympics and World Cups. more

Security Camera Catch: Checking Her Mate... with poison

A chess player has been suspended by the Russian Chess Federation and is reportedly facing time in jail after she allegedly tried to poison her rival at the chessboard during a tournament.

Amina Abakarova, a 40-year-old chess coach from Makhachkala in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, is accused of trying to poison her rival, 30-year-old Umayganat Osmanova...

Security camera footage shows the incident where Abakarova calmly walked over to the board where Osmanova was supposed to appear 20 minutes later. It was reported that she'd previously asked if cameras were in operation and been told that they weren't. She then smeared what is said to be potentially deadly mercury from a thermometer. more

Olympics: FIFA Hinders Canada’s chances with Punishments for Drone Spying

FIFA suspended Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman for one year, deducted six points from the team’s Olympic group stage total and issued a fine on Saturday in response to Canada flying a drone over New Zealand’s training sessions before the start of the Games.

The punishment immediately and severely hurt the chances for a second consecutive gold medal for Canada, which won the Olympic tournament in Tokyo in 2021, a run that was immediately questioned as the drone scandal emerged. more

Peyton Manning Reveals His Counter-Measures to Avoid Getting Bugged

The New England Patriots had to face a couple of damning scandals during their golden era. While Deflategate is the more popular one, Spygate isn’t far behind. The thought of the Patriots eavesdropping on their opponents may seem like an exaggeration. However, it was enough to convince Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and prompt him to take some rather weird measures.

Allegedly, the Patriots had a very bad habit of recording opposition coaches from non-designated zones. Something for which the team and their coach, Bill Belichick, received heavy fines. However, there were a few, including Manning, who believed the Patriots had installed hot mics in the locker room, which gave rise to some pretty hilarious paranoid outcomes.

During live coverage of the Packers vs Giants game in 2021, Peyton revealed to his brother that he was paranoid about letting his plans get leaked while visiting the Gillett Stadium. “Every time I played against New England, I used to talk to my receivers in the showers,” he said. “Don’t talk about a play next to my locker because I know it’s bugged. Very strange to see seven guys hanging out in the shower.” more

Georgia Coaches Laugh Off Unfounded ‘Spy Camera’ Accusations

Georgia coaches laughed off Thursday’s hot rumor at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. There was a loose accusation from an Ohio State sportswriter that the Bulldogs used a hidden camera to spy on the Buckeyes’ practices at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I hope that’s true,” UGA offensive coordinator Todd Monken said, laughing aloud when asked about it during Media Day on Thursday. “I hope we’ve been in their hotel. I hope we’ve been in their practices. I hope we’re logged into their computers.”

Monken quickly added – “That’s a joke.” ...

The truth is, there was a camera found in the stadium before the Buckeyes’ first practice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this week during a routine security sweep, according to people familiar with the situation. The camera belonged to the stadium as a permanent fixture and was not being operated at the time. Ohio State was informed about it, the camera promptly was removed and everybody moved on. more

Time to read:
Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage

Ties Cut with Berlin Football Club after Spy Scandal

Lars Windhorst has announced that he will terminate his involvement with Hertha BSC Berlin football club, following revelations that the German financier allegedly hired corporate spies to try to force out the club’s president. 

Windhorst, whose investment company Tennor Holding owns a majority stake in the club, has been battling a storm of criticism after the Financial Times reported last week that he allegedly enlisted an Israeli private intelligence company to orchestrate a clandestine campaign against Werner Gegenbauer, who stepped down in May after 14 years in charge. more

Sports Spying (again)

Sacramento Republic FC plays Orlando City FC in the finals of the U.S. Open Cup, but there is some controversy ahead of the match.

A Republic FC spokesperson tells CBS13 at they filed a complaint with U.S. Soccer claiming that an Orlando City FC employee was caught spying on the Republic during practice just a couple of days ago...

Republic representatives say they asked the employee to leave but he refused. He eventually left after about 45 minutes -- this after taking various notes and making phone calls.

There are no official U.S. Soccer rules against spying on teams ahead of a finals match. more

...and in U.S. football...  Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage

NFL Espionage Book Released Today - "Spies on the Sidelines"

by Kevin Bryant

Hi, I’m so excited to announce that today is release day for Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage! I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has supported me in getting to this point. I’m in debt to so many people for their contributions. Thank you all so much!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Spies on the Sidelines details the collection techniques NFL teams utilize to gather information about their opponents in order to gain a game day advantage, as well as the countermeasures used to defend against these. The book spans the entire history of the league and contains anecdotes from each and every NFL team.

ORDERING INFORMATION

If you still haven’t ordered Spies on the Sidelines (perhaps you’ve been waiting for just this day), here’s how to get yourself a copy—and don’t forget the book makes a great gift for the football fans in your life too.

Hardcover: The hard cover version is most easily purchased through Amazon (as everyone already has an account) but can also be bought through the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield (www.rowman.com), and there is a 30% discount with the code RLFANDF30 if the book is ordered from their website. Other options are also available at www.SpiesOnTheSidelines.com.

E-book: The e-book version can be found at Amazon, Rowman & Littlefield, and Apple Books.

Audio book: Unfortunately it's not quite available. The plan is to have it out by 1 September 2022.

US Football Team Settles Video Voyeurism Suit for $2.4 Million

THE DALLAS COWBOYS paid a confidential settlement of $2.4 million after four members of their iconic cheerleading squad accused a senior team executive of voyeurism in their locker room as they undressed...

Each of the women received $399,523.27 after the incident. One of the cheerleaders alleged that she clearly saw Richard Dalrymple, the Cowboys' longtime senior vice president for public relations and communications, standing behind a partial wall in their locker room with his iPhone extended toward them while they were changing their clothes... Dalrymple gained entry to the back door of the cheerleaders' locked dressing room by using a security key card.
more

Coach Banned Over Spying Scandal

Australia - Capitals coach Paul Goriss has been banned after obtaining leaked training footage of the Sydney Uni Flames. video

NFL Spying Book in the Works

Spies on the Sidelines - The High Stakes World of NFL Espionage
A NON FICTION BOOK BY KEVIN BRYANT

After the NFL’s Spygate controversy, involving the New England Patriots illicitly recording the defensive signals of the New York Jets in 2007, NFL fans and pundits alike struggled to answer a lingering question: Were the Patriots the only team spying on their opponents or was espionage a commonplace activity in the NFL? 

Everyone had an opinion, but few could offer more than a gut feeling to back up their claims and for good reason...

Well, that was before. Spies on the Sidelines shines a light on the shadowy world of NFL espionage and exposes the full range of collection techniques teams use to spy on their opponents, as well as the defensive countermeasures that are used to defend against these threats. more

Peyton Manning - Patriots Locker-Room Bugging Accusation

The New England Patriots’ cheating scandals didn’t stop at Spygate and Deflategate, according to Peyton Manning.

Manning said that he knew the Patriots bugged the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium with hot mics to eavesdrop on conversations between opposing players.

“Every time I played against New England, I used to talk to my receivers in the showers,” Manning said during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football Manning-cast in Week 2’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.“Don’t talk about a play next to my locker because I know it’s bugged. I know it’s got a hot mic in there... more

Football Team Launches Retaliation Drone

As football rivalries go, the one between Chile and Argentina is up there among the fiercest. So it should come as no surprise that when Chile's national team saw a drone hovering above a training session, it suspected its rival of spying ahead of Thursday's World Cup qualifier.

The team sent up its own drone which swiftly brought down the "spy-cam".

But rather than being a devious Argentine device, the drone turned out to be from a Chilean energy company. more

Open Mike Strikes Out

As the New York Mets and Miami Marlins mulled over whether to play a game on Thursday night, a man who appeared to be Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen unknowingly let the public know of a plan from Major League Baseball.

Cameras were rolling on the Mets' page of the MLB app Thursday afternoon and picked up a candid conversation from someone believed to be the Mets general manager.

"Baseball is trying to come up with a solution," the man says. "You know what would be super powerful?"

The man then pauses to tell the two people he's speaking to that this doesn't leave the room, unaware that the camera is rolling. more

America’s Cup Buffeted by Fraud and Spying Allegations

New Zealand’s plans to host the 2021 America’s Cup are in disarray amid allegations of fraud, spying and a government decision to suspend funding for the world’s most famous yachting event.

Grant Dalton, managing director of Team New Zealand, has denied claims of fraud and financial mismanagement. He said the team and organisers were the victims of spying and intentional reputational damage by people with questionable motives.

“It is a deliberate, sinister, and highly orchestrated attack which includes anonymous tip-offs, recordings and document leaks. ‘Informants’ orchestrate unfair accusations, bypassing normal processes, and going straight to external authorities,” he said.

Mr Dalton revealed this week the team had sacked a number of employees for leaking confidential information. He said his organisation had been infiltrated by spies. more

Spanish App Works Like Spanish Fly... undercover

Spain’s data protection agency has fined the country’s soccer league, LaLiga, €250,000 (about $280,000) for allegedly violating EU data privacy and transparency laws. The app, which is used for keeping track of games and stats, was using the phone’s microphone and GPS to track bars illegally streaming soccer games...

Using a Shazam-like technology, the app would record audio to identify soccer games, and use the geolocation of the phone to locate which bars were streaming without licenses. more

German Football Club Caught Spying with a Drone

‘We didn‘t do anything illegal!‘
Spy games: German club admit to spying on rivals using drones

German football was stunned at the news that Werder Bremen one of the biggest clubs in the Bundesliga spied on training sessions of rivals Hoffenheim by using drones piloted by club officials...

And remarkably, Werder Bremen has issued a statement taking responsibility for the incident, admitting it was they who arranged for the drone to conduct surveillance of Hoffenheim‘s training session.

An official statement was released, explaining that the drone was piloted by a member of club staff, while the club‘s general manager Frank Bauman made a formal apology and took full responsibility for the incident. more

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Drone Stealers

In what might be the most 2018 news story ever, head coach Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have erected a tarp near one of their practice facilities.

Why is this news? Well, said tarp is meant to protect the Steelers from being spied on with drones. more

High School Coach Caught Spying

An investigation by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) and Sarasota County Schools, has led to more fallout for the Braden River High School Football Program.

...the district was alerted in May to alleged improper use of HUDL, a national online football management database where teams and players put their highlight reels and can playback games and review old plays.

Through an investigation, it was determined that there was an improper recruit account used to access video footage...

The Sarasota School District says that recruit account was tracked back to the coaching staff at Braden River High School. more

Eavesdropping App Lawsuit Allowed to Proceed

A federal judge denied the Golden State Warriors’ motion to dismiss an amended lawsuit 
alleging that the NBA champions recorded private conversations through their mobile app.

Jeffrey White, a judge for the Northern District of California, originally dismissed the class action complaint, which was filed by New York resident LaTisha Satchell last year, but ruled recently that the revised suit can proceed against the Warriors and beacon-technology company Signal360 for a possible violation of the Wiretap Act. more