The use of drones to spy on opponents may be somewhat common in international soccer, but let there be no confusion or debate: It is a brazen form of cheating that shouldn’t be tolerated.
That’s what John Herdman didn’t understand and what he refused to accept, and it was that cavalier attitude that ultimately led to him stepping down as coach of Toronto FC on Friday.
Herdman was brought in by MLSE to help turn around the failing club’s fortunes after it suffered the worst campaign in its history in 2023. The Reds showed some improvement this year under Herdman by earning almost three times as many wins and nearly doubling its point total. But Toronto’s 11-19-4 record was only good enough for an 11th-place finish in the Eastern Conference as it missed out on the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
“Personally, I have made the difficult decision that it’s the right time for me to step away from the club, as the organization defines its vision for the future,” Herdman said in a statement released by the club.
That bold declaration is nothing more than a vain attempt by the English coach to frame the narrative around his premature departure. He would have us believe he’s walking away from TFC over simply not being aligned with ownership on the direction of the team. But the truth is both he and MLSE could see the writing on the wall.
In the immediate aftermath of the drone-spying scandal involving the Canadian women’s team at this summer’s Paris Olympics, Canada Soccer not only launched an independent investigation, it also told FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, that the Canadian national teams’ use of drones to spy on on opponents was started by Herdman. An official FIFA document that was published online quoted Canada Soccer as pointing the finger at Herdman for beginning the practice when he was in charge of the women’s and men’s sides from 2011 to 2023.
That correspondence from Canada Soccer came one day after Herdman told local reporters that he and his staff never spied on opponents during the Olympics or at the World Cup during his tenure in charge of both the national teams.
“I’m highly confident that in my time as the head coach at an Olympic Games or World Cup, we’ve never been involved in any of those activities,” he emphatically stated.
Herdman chose his words carefully, specifically referencing the World Cup and Olympics. But when pressed about whether he sanctioned the use of drones for spying purposes in other competitions, be it in international friendlies or in Concacaf tournaments, he artfully dodged the question.
He also offered a glimpse into his views on the subject matter with a moment of candour, saying “This isn’t a time to sort of nitpick about scouting at tournaments.”
Notice the use of the word “nitpick,” the unmistakable inference being that everybody who was giving him a hard time, be it members of the media or Canadian soccer fans, was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was also rather telling that he referred to the use of drones to spy on opposing teams merely as “scouting,” as though it’s just a normal and accepted part of the game, rather than a major breach of sporting ethics.
Herdman went on to say at the time that he’d be “happy to help Canada Soccer in any way I can.” When push came to shove, he didn’t.
Canada Soccer announced on July 31 that it had hired Sonia Regenbogen from the law firm of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark to oversee an independent investigation into what happened in Paris “and subsequently, any related matters of a historic nature.”
On Nov. 12, Canada Soccer shared the findings of Regenbogen’s investigation, which found that women’s team coach Bev Priestman and assistant coach Jasmine Mander “directed, approved and condoned” the illegal filming of New Zealand’s practices at the Olympics using a drone. As such, Priestman, Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi — who were all hit with a one-year FIFA ban for their role in the scandal — would not be brought back by Canada Soccer.
In sharing the report’s conclusions, Canada Soccer revealed that Herdman didn’t participate in the investigation due to scheduling conflicts. The fact that Herdman couldn’t find the time to speak with Regenbogen only made him look as though he had something to hide and that his hands weren’t as clean as he would have us believe.
Canadian soccer’s governing body went on to say that it had initiated a proceeding against Herdman to adjudicate potential violations of its code of conduct and ethics during his time in charge of the Canadian men’s and women’s teams. The governing body’s disciplinary code gave it a wide range of potential sanctions to take against Herdman, including a lifetime suspension from working in Canadian soccer.
Herdman didn’t exactly endear himself to Canada Soccer by quitting his post last summer, leaving the organization in the lurch with the 2026 FIFA World Cup less than three years away. He also didn’t go quietly, saying he had no regrets about walking away from the international game and all the headaches associated with the national team job and Canada Soccer.
“That was a big part of the shift. Enough was enough. You ended up spending 50 per cent of your life in a political reality. And I’m not naive to think this (job) isn’t political. But the day-to-day keeps you focused on what’s right in front of you,” Herdman said after being hired by TFC.
Having been publicly spurned, Canada Soccer suddenly found itself in an advantageous position, and while it wouldn’t have been guided by revenge, there’s no denying that it was dangling the sword of Damocles over Herdman’s head.
By stepping down as TFC coach, he put an end to his former employer’s disciplinary investigation into him, and prevented MLSE from suffering embarrassment in what would have been a very public and messy scandal that would have dragged on for months.
Herdman’s resignation prevented his reputation from suffering serious damage and means he won’t have to admit any wrongdoing. He also put himself in a much better position to line up a job with another club or national team that won’t have any moral qualms about a coach who was at the very heart of one of the biggest cheating scandals in the history of Canadian sports.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 25 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.