Two members of staff working for the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team have been sent home from the Olympics after New Zealand complained that a drone was being used to spy on their training session. The incident occurred just days before the Paris Olympics.
On Monday, members of the New Zealand team saw a drone flying above their training session in St. Etienne.
The operator, who reported it to the police, was identified as a Canada’s team support staff member. French police detained the individual.
The Canadian Olympic Panel later affirmed that associate coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were sacked from the team following the episode.
Bev Priestman, the team’s head coach, also quit coaching the team against New Zealand.
On Thursday, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, will face New Zealand for the first time at the Paris Games.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee said in a statement that they wanted answers and were “deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident.”
According to the statement, “The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review.”
“New Zealand Football and the NZOC are committed to upholding the Olympic Games’ integrity and fairness.”
Meanwhile, coach Bev Priestman issued an apology for the offense.
She declared,
‘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.
‘This does not represent the values that our team stands for. I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.’
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