Canada loses its appeal against a points deduction for drone spying in Olympic women's soccer

PARIS (AP) — Canada lost its appeal against the deduction of six competition points following a drone-spying scandal in the Olympic women’s soccer tournament.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday said its panel of three judges dismissed Canada's appeal and confirmed the six-point deduction imposed Saturday by FIFA.

Two assistant coaches used drones to spy on New Zealand’s practices last week before their opening game.

The urgent verdict was delivered less than eight hours before defending Olympic champion Canada was scheduled to play Colombia at Nice in the final round of games in Group A.

Canada was third in the standings with zero points despite winning both its games, against New Zealand and France.

Canada can still advance to the quarterfinals with a win Wednesday that would lift the team into first or second place. The top two in each of the three groups advance, plus two third-placed teams.

Head coach Bev Priestman and her two assistants were banned by FIFA for a year after being removed from the Olympics by Canadian officials.

Their bans were not part of the fast-track appeal judged at the CAS Olympic court in Paris, which held an urgent hearing Tuesday.

The court gave just the decision Wednesday and said “the full award with grounds will be published at a later date.”

Without their suspended coaches being involved in the games, the Canadian players beat New Zealand 2-1 and then stunned host France on Sunday in a comeback 2-1 win sealed by scoring in the 12th minute of stoppage time.

The six-point penalty for an in-tournament violation of FIFA rules is unprecedented in modern soccer.

A three-point penalty is currently applying to Ecuador in qualifying for the men's 2026 World Cup in South America. That sanction was imposed by CAS judges and carried over from Ecuador fielding an ineligible player with falsified documents in the team's successful qualifying program for the 2022 World Cup.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Canada's Julia Grosso celebrates her side's 2-1 win at the end of the women's Group A soccer match between Canada and France at Geoffroy-Guichard stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Saint-Etienne, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Canada's players celebrate after Vanessa Gille, bottom center, scored her side's second goal during the women's Group A soccer match between Canada and France at Geoffroy-Guichard stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Saint-Etienne, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

ATLANTA (AP) — Two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a taxiway at Atlanta's airport Tuesday morning, with a larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet.

No injuries were reported and Delta said passengers would be rebooked on other flights.

Atlanta-based Delta said the wing of a Delta Airbus A350 jet that was bound for Tokyo hit the tail of a smaller Bombardier CRJ-900 that was on an adjacent taxiway. The smaller plane, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, was preparing to take off for Lafayette, Louisiana.

Jason Adams, a meteorologist for WFTS-TV in Tampa, Florida, who is traveling to Louisiana to cover Tropical Storm Francine, recounted the moment of impact on social platform X.

“Well that was terrifying,” Adams wrote. “Taxiing out for the flight from Atlanta to Louisiana and another plane appears to have clipped the back of our plane. Very jarring, metal scraping sounds then loud bangs. We’re fine. No fire or smoke.”

Adams posted pictures of the tail of the smaller plane knocked on its side and laying on the taxiway.

Delta said the wing of the larger plane was also damaged.

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said passengers from one plane were bused back to the terminal, while the other plane returned to a gate under its own power. There were 221 passengers on the Airbus and 56 passengers on the regional jet.

Delta said it would cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board and other authorities to investigate. The Federal Aviation Administration says it is also investigating.

Airport officials described disruptions to operations at the world's busiest airport as “minimal.”

A plane sits damaged at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after colliding with another plane on a taxiway, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (WSB via AP)