Canada Games: Quebec Women's Team Caught in Illegal Information Exchange

Nova Scotia players celebrate a point during their match against Quebec on Sunday, August 4th. Quebec originally won the match 3-0, but the decision was overturned. 

On Sunday August 4th, Quebec's Women's team defeated Nova Scotia 3-1. Nova Scotia has since appealed the match, since evidence of Quebec's team illegal exchange of information has surfaced. 

During the match against Nova Scotia, members of a separate team witnessed a non-accredited assistant coach for Team Quebec gather information, place it in a water bottle, and place it next to the curtain dividing the court. The water bottle then made it's way into the hands of the team manager, who was then seen, as portrayed in the evidence provided in photos, opening the water bottle and pulling out a sheet of paper. 

According to a statement made by Volleyball Quebec, these actions were not known, nor was the information used by Head Coach Julien Paquette or his Assistant Rachèle Béliveau

Due to this, the Canada Games Council decided to proceed with the following punishments: the manager will be stripped of his accreditation, and will no longer be allowed on the Canada Games premises as a member of Team Quebec. Furthermore, Quebec's match against Nova Scotia, which was originally 3-1 for Quebec, has been overturned and is now a 3-0; 25-0, 25-0, 25-0 win for Nova Scotia.  

All coaches and managers were well aware that communication from outside of the field of play, in any form, was illegal. 

Quebec, who originally finished in 2nd in Pool C and were originally slated to play Ontario, have now swapped positions with Nova Scotia, and will play Alberta instead. Nova Scotia will now play Ontario in the quarter-finals.   

As an effected party, the Alberta delegation took the opportunity to appeal the Canada Games Council's decision on the basis that it was not severe enough. The appeal then went to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) for review.  The SDRCC ruled that the Council followed all the necessary policies and procedures and upheld the original decision.   

Volleyball Quebec has released a statement, apologizing to Volleyball Nova Scotia, as well as all the teams competing at the Canada Games. They have also suspended both individuals from the Canada Games environment for the remainder of the Games, and will review the matter at a later date. For full details on the statement, click here. 

 Edit: We flip flopped two of the words in the SDRCC's name.  It has been corrected. (August 8th, 2013 - 10:07 a.m. EST)