FIFA To Look Into Canadians’ Comments

The governing body of world football, FIFA, issued a press release Tuesday saying that its disciplinary commission is “currently analysing incidents that occurred after the conclusion” of the women’s Olympic semi-final match between Canada and the U.S. The U.S. won the match 4-3 with the aid of several controversial decisions by Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen, leading to several angry and accusatory statements by Canadian players following the match. FIFA says it will release further information only after it has all the details.

Canadian captain Christine Sinclair was among those, saying, “It’s a shame that in such an important and even game that the ref had such an impact on it. We feel cheated. It’s a shame that in a game as important as that, the ref decided the result before it started.”

Teammate Melissa Tancredi said, “She could have done a better job. A way better job. This is the semi-finals. We’re supposed to be professionals and they should act like one, too. I feel robbed. That’s all I can say. I said to her: ‘I hope you can sleep tonight and put on your American jersey because that’s who you played for today.’ “

Canadian head coach John Herdman has a conference call scheduled for 8 p.m. local time, with Canada scheduled to play France in the bronze-medal match on Thursday.

(Globe and Mail)