FIFA announced Saturday that Canada women's national soccer team head coach Bev Priestman has been suspended for one year after it was determined that drones were used to spy on Olympic opponent New Zealand.

According to Rob Harris of Sky News, Team Canada was also docked six points in the Olympic soccer standings, meaning it cannot finish with more than three points in the group stage.

Harris added that Priestman was fined 200,000 Swiss francs as well.

FIFA released the following statement on the punishment: "The officials were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play in connection with the CSA's Women's representative team's drones usage."

Canada Soccer CEO & General Secretary Kevin Blue released a statement:

"Canada Soccer is disappointed with the impact of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision on our athletes. We are exploring options to appeal on the basis that it is excessively punitive towards our Women's National Team players – who were not involved in any unethical behavior. Canada Soccer took swift action to suspend the involved staff members and is also proceeding with a broad independent review that may lead to further disciplinary action. We appreciate the understanding and support for our players from our Canadian fans during this time."

Per ESPN, New Zealand's women's soccer team told the International Olympic Committee integrity unit that drones were flown over their closed practice sessions earlier this week.

It was later reported by TSN's Rick Westhead that Canada's women's and men's soccer teams had illegally used drones to record their opponents' closed training sessions for "several years."

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced Thursday that it had removed Priestman from the Canadian women's Olympic soccer team amid the scandal, although Priestman denied having any knowledge of the drone usage.

Priestman did not coach the team during its opening 2-1 win over New Zealand, and it was announced afterward that she had been suspended for the remainder of the Olympics by Canada Soccer.

The 38-year-old Priestman is from Consett, England, and she served as an assistant for the English national women's soccer team from 2018 to 2020 before Canada hired her to be head coach in 2020.

Priestman helped guide Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in women's soccer at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, beating Sweden on penalty kicks in the final.

However, Westhead reported that the team used drone spying to its benefit during those Olympics.

Canada had been tied with France atop Group A following its win over New Zealand, but it is now technically at the bottom of the group behind New Zealand and Colombia, both of whom have no points.

The Canadian women's soccer team will be back in action Sunday against host France with assistant Andy Spence serving as the interim head coach once again.