An assistant coach and an analyst for Canada’s women’s soccer team used a drone to record and disrupt a practice by the New Zealand women’s team and have been sent home from the Paris Olympics.
The two teams are slated to play Thursday as part of Group A, which also includes France and Colombia.
Joseph Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer,” and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, to whom Lombardi reported, were removed from the Canadian team and sent back over the Atlantic, the Canadian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.
On Monday, a drone was flown over New Zealand’s practice facilities in Saint-Étienne. Team personnel reported the drone to police, who found the drone operator and detained them. The drone pilot was a support staffer for the Canadian team.
“The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident,” the New Zealand Olympic Committee said in a statement.
In addition to Monday’s incident, there was also a drone incident at a New Zealand practice on Friday, The Canadian Olympic Committee said.
Bev Priestman, the head coach of Canada’s women’s soccer team, has removed herself from Thursday’s match, and all of Canada Soccer staff will undergo mandatory ethics training, the Olympic committee said.
“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. … I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw … In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld,” Ms. Priestman said.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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