The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) was forced to apologize on behalf of the women’s soccer team after non-accredited” representatives spied on the New Zealand team training via drone. The Canadian women’s soccer team, defending Olympic gold medalist after winning Tokyo 2021, is scheduled to play New Zealand Thursday morning at 9 a.m. MT. Team Canada’s reconnaissance on two separate occasions led to the committee’s dismissal of assistant coach Jasmine Mander and Canada Soccer analyst Joseph Lombardi, a COC statement released early Wednesday morning confirms. They were taken off Team Canada staff and sent home from the Paris 2024 Olympics. Further, head coach Bev Priestman will not be coaching this week’s opening game. “A non-accredited member of the Canadian soccer support team” was caught recording the Kiwis’ practice with a drone ahead of their upcoming match,” states the COC release. Priestman in a statement, per the Daily Mail, apologized for the gross misconduct. “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.”French police detained an unauthorized Canada Soccer support staff member in Saint-Etienne, France, after the New Zealand team reported to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a Canadian representative used a drone to spy on their practice. The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) then demanded a formal review of the situation from the IOC’s integrity unit. The COC said it’s working with IOC officials, Canada Soccer and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and promised to give more details later on Wednesday. The NZOC in a subsequent statement said they were “deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident,” and reiterated they demand answers.“The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review,” the statement read.“The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games.”French authorities, meanwhile, have called for a ban on drone usage for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in addition to other heightened security measures. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday acknowledged already at least six drones a day are being intercepted by authorities, per La Monde. Most of them are flown by tourists. Attal said there will be a strict 150-km no-fly zone around Paris for the duration of the games, and 18,000 military members will be deployed to secure the 16-day event.
