Herdman under fire in soccer spying scandal
A ruling by the FIFA Appeals Committee puts former Canada coach John Herdman at Ground Zero within Canada Soccer for spying on rival teams.
The ruling, which dismissed a Canadian appeal of FIFA'S sanctions imposed on the Canadian women's team at the Paris Olympics for using a drone to spy on New Zealand, says Canada Soccer pointed the finger at Herdman on July 27.
According to the FIFA document, Canada Soccer suspects that the practice of using a drone for spying began with Herdman during his time as head coach of the women's national team and was continued by current coach Bev Priestman.
Canada Soccer said the practice was not facilitated by the federation and it is now backing a full independent investigation. Priestman, sent home from Paris after the scandal broke, was an assistant coach under Herdman.
The Montreal Canadiens signed defenceman Kaiden Guhle to a six-year, Us$33.3-million contract extension Wednesday.
The contract begins in 2025-26 with Guhle entering the final year of his entry-level contract at a $863,334 salary-cap hit for the upcoming season.
Guhle had six goals and 16 assists in 70 games last season, averaging 20:51 in ice-time.
The 22-year-old from Edmonton also represented Canada at the world championship earlier this summer, producing one goal and four assists in nine games.
The move comes a day after the Canadiens signed defencemen Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron to twoyear deals.
Former Carolina Hurricanes centre Evgeny Kuznetsov signed a four-year contract with SKA Saint Petersburg, the Kontinental Hockey League announced Wednesday.
Kuznetsov's contract with the Hurricanes was terminated two weeks ago by mutual agreement after he cleared unconditional waivers. Kuznetsov walked away from the $6-million salary owed to him in the final season of his $64.2 million, seven-year deal originally signed in 2017. Terms of his contract in the KHL were not announced.
Kuznetsov entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in February.
The Baltimore Orioles recalled top-ranked prospect Jackson Holliday from triple-a Norfolk on Wednesday, giving the infielder his second shot at the majors.
Holliday, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, made his big-league debut earlier this season, but went 2-for-34 at the plate with 18 strikeouts and was sent back down. The Orioles need infield help after an injury to Jorge Mateo and a trade that sent Connor Norby to the Marlins.
The 20-year-old Holliday, the son of former outfielder Matt Holliday, is No. 1 in MLB Pipeline's prospect ranking.