A controversy has emerged ahead of the Paris Olympics’ first women’s soccer match between Canada and New Zealand due to a drone incident involving the teams.
New Zealand lodged a complaint with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) integrity unit after a drone was spotted flying over their women’s soccer team’s training session. It was discovered that the drone was operated by a member of the Canadian team’s support staff.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) stated in a Tuesday release,
“Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, which led to the detention of the drone operator, identified as a support staff member of the broader Canadian Women’s football team.”
The NZOC has requested a comprehensive review from Canada and formally reported the incident to the IOC integrity unit.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced disciplinary actions and revealed that a second drone incident had occurred on July 19.
The committee reported that “unaccredited analyst” Joseph Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander were sent home from Paris due to the incident.
Canadian soccer head coach Bev Priestman will not be present for the team’s match against New Zealand on Thursday. In a statement, Priestman apologized, saying,
“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. This does not reflect the values that our team stands for.”
Priestman continued, “I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.
To demonstrate our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”
Canada, the defending gold medalists, won the title at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by defeating Sweden.
