Bev Priestman, who led Canada to the top of the podium at the Tokyo Olympics, has been left off the list of final three nominees for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach.
Priestman was one of five nominees for the award announced in November. But she and Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson did not make the final cut announced Thursday.
The award will go to one of Spain’s Lluis Cortes (FC Barcelona), England’s Emma Hayes (Chelsea) and the Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman (Dutch and English national teams).
The final three nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Coach are Spain’s Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Italy’s Roberto Mancini (Italian national team) and Germany’s Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea).
Priestman’s omission drew a tart response from Canadian men’s coach John Herdman on social media.
“Christine Sinclair scored a hat trick in the London 2012 OLY semifinal, finished top scorer, landed her country a first team sport medal since 1936 & not nominated for top 3 FIFA. Now, Bev lands the country a first GOLD Medal in Rio 2021 & doesn’t make the top 3. How???” Herdman, who was coach of the Canadian women when they won bronze at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, said on Twitter.
Christine Sinclair scored a Hatrick in the London 2012 OLY semi final, finished top scorer, landed her country a first team sport medal since 1936 & not nominated for top 3 FIFA. Now, Bev lands the country a first GOLD Medal in Rio 2021 & doesn’t make the top 3. How???
—@coachherdman
Some of Priestman’s players also expressed their disappointment online.
“Three incredible coaches, but it seems @bev_priestman was robbed here. What more does a national team coach have to do?” Sinclair tweeted.
Three incredible coaches, but it seems <a href=”https://twitter.com/bev_priestman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@bev_priestman</a> was robbed here. What more does a national team coach have to do? 🇨🇦 🥇 <a href=”https://t.co/cpYmjdrEsN”>https://t.co/cpYmjdrEsN</a>
—@sincy12
“Extremely confused in not seeing @bev_priestman in this. Leading a team to a HISTORIC OLYMPIC GOLD, after only being put in charge 8 months before. Top of the international world stage,” Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe echoed on Twitter.
On Wednesday, Labbe was named as one of three finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper.
Extremely confused in not seeing <a href=”https://twitter.com/bev_priestman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@bev_priestman</a> in this. Leading a team to a HISTORIC OLYMPIC GOLD, after only being put in charge 8 months before. Top of the international world stage. 🥇🇨🇦💯 <a href=”https://t.co/dGttIueI4M”>https://t.co/dGttIueI4M</a>
—@stephlabbe1
Sinclair, who finished fifth in the running for the 2012 FIFA Women’s Player of the Year Award won by American Abby Wambach, is one of 13 nominees for The Best FIFA Women’s Player.
The three finalists for the best men’s and women’s players will be revealed Friday.
The award winners will be announced Jan. 17 in Zurich.
Canada wins 2 Olympic shootouts
Canada went 9-3-5, including two Olympic shootout wins in 2021, which saw Priestman’s debut on the Canadian sidelines. The lone losses were to the U.S. and Brazil at the SheBelieves Cup in February — with Canada subsequently beating both in Tokyo — and to Mexico in the team’s penultimate game of the year.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women compiled a 12-game unbeaten streak (8-0-4 including the Olympic shootout wins) during the year.
The winners will be decided by an international jury comprising national team coaches and captains around the globe, one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team, and fans via an online poll on FIFA.com.
On Wednesday, Canadian Stephanie Labbe was named as one of three finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper.
The 35-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta. is up against Germany’s Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea) and Chile’s Christiane Endler (Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyonnais).
Labbe, who started the season with Sweden’s FC Rosengard before transferring to PSG, was a key cog in Canada’s golden run in Tokyo with penalty shootout wins over Brazil and Sweden. She has earned 85 caps for Canada, with 43 clean sheets.