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Soccer’s governing body announced Saturday it is docking six points from the Canadian women’s soccer team at the Paris Olympics and suspending its head coach and two others for a year over a drone spying scandal.

Why it matters: The incident had already cast a shadow over Canada, the defending gold medalists from Tokyo, and the stiff penalty puts a major dent in the team’s hope for a repeat gold in Paris.

• FIFA said it was banning head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and staffer Joseph Lombardi for one year.

Zoom in: Soccer Canada was also fined 200,000 Swiss Francs.

• But the stiffest penalty was the deduction of six points from the group play total of the Canadian team, a move that makes it unlikely for the team to advance to the medal round.
• Canada won its first match against New Zealand but now faces the prospect of needing to win all three matches to finish with three points — and even that might not be enough to advance.

Catch-up quick: A Canadian soccer official was caught using a drone to spy on the New Zealand women’s team practice.

• Soccer Canada had already sent Priestman home from Paris.
• The head of Canada soccer has acknowledged the drone use was not limited to the women’s team or to Paris.

What they’re saying: FIFA said in a statement that each of the suspended soccer officials were “responsible for offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play.”

Yes, but: Canada could appeal FIFA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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