{"id":17355,"date":"2025-07-30T00:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/30\/wellington-hires-priest-after-spying-ban-a-twist-in-the-tale\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T00:29:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:29:02","slug":"wellington-hires-priest-after-spying-ban-a-twist-in-the-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/30\/wellington-hires-priest-after-spying-ban-a-twist-in-the-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellington Hires Priest After Spying Ban: A Twist in the Tale!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\"><span class=\"timestamp \">July 29, 2025, 10:39 PM<\/span><\/div>\n<p>WELLINGTON, New Zealand &#8211; Canadian coaches have been barred from participating in the drone surveillance controversy linked to the Olympics in Paris.<\/p>\n<p>Bev Priestman, who recently concluded a year-long suspension from all football activities, has signed a two-year deal with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n<p>Priestman&#8217;s spouse, Emma Humphreys, joined Wellington Phoenix in December as the academy director. Humphreys, a former New Zealand international, previously coached the Canadian youth women&#8217;s national team.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Picks<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2024\/0728\/r1364635_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&amp;w=130&amp;h=130&amp;scale=crop&amp;location=center\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\"><\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2023\/0810\/r1208722_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&amp;w=130&amp;h=130&amp;scale=crop&amp;location=center\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>1 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>This situation for Priestman is particularly poignant as FIFA investigations disclosed that she, along with other coaching staff, utilized drones to spy on New Zealand&#8217;s women&#8217;s national team ahead of their first match at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>She was dismissed from her role as Canada&#8217;s head coach following an evaluation by Canadian football authorities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re thrilled to welcome Bev back to football,&#8221; stated Phoenix President Rob Morrison on Wednesday. &#8220;We acknowledge her time away from the sport, and we feel confident about this appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Priestman guided Canada to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics and has a robust coaching portfolio that includes four Women&#8217;s World Cups, three Olympics, and three FIFA Youth World Cups. She also previously held roles in coaching development at Wellington and as the director of development for New Zealand football.<\/p>\n<p>In her statement to the club, Priestman expressed gratitude for the chance to return to her passion, stating her intent to create memorable experiences for both the city and the country.<\/p>\n<p>Wellington Phoenix is a prominent club in Australia\u2019s top women&#8217;s league, the A-League, and Priestman aims to secure its first championship title. \u201cWe are driven to achieve that milestone for the club,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Conroy, president of Australia&#8217;s professional league, remarked that her hiring reflects strong support for the competition. \u201cBev is the head coach of a globally recognized national team and an Olympic champion,&#8221; he remarked. &#8220;Her experience will significantly benefit Phoenix&#8217;s promising squad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report. ESPN writer Jeff Kassoff also contributed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> This news is significant for soccer fans as it marks the return of a highly accomplished coach who has proven her mettle on the international stage. Priestman&#8217;s leadership could invigorate the Phoenix squad and elevate women\u2019s football in the region, potentially inspiring a new generation of players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July 29, 2025, 10:39 PM WELLINGTON, New Zealand &#8211; Canadian coaches have been barred from participating in the drone surveillance controversy linked to the Olympics in Paris. Bev Priestman, who recently concluded a year-long suspension from all football activities, has signed a two-year deal with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand\u2019s capital. Priestman&#8217;s spouse, Emma Humphreys, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2013,40,4973,46,4974,45,4975,4977,4976,4972],"class_list":{"0":"post-17355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-ban","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-hires","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-priest","13":"tag-soccer","14":"tag-spying","15":"tag-tale","16":"tag-twist","17":"tag-wellington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}