After New Zealand informed police about the use of a drone to spy on their training session, police sent home two members of the backroom staff for the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team.
Staff from New Zealand’s team noticed a drone flying above their training session in St. Etienne on Monday, describing the incident as disappointing and requesting a full review.
Persecondnews reports that the operator was identified as a supporting staff member of Canada’s team, while the coaching staff was detained by French police.
Following the incident, the Canadian Olympic Committee later confirmed the expulsion of assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi from the team.
Head coach Bev Priestman also removed herself from coaching the team against New Zealand.
Canada are the reigning Olympic champions and New Zealand’s first opponents at the Paris Games on Thursday.
A statement issued by the New Zealand Olympic Committee said they were ‘deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident’ and wanted answers.
The statement reads: “The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review.
“The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games.”
Priestman, the Canadian coach, apologized for the offence.
“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,”she said.
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