NICE, France — The women’s Olympic football tournament is starting with an unexpected drama: a complaint from the New Zealand Olympic Committee about attempted espionage during a training session just before the Olympic Games in Paris.
A drone flew over a Ferns training session in Saint-Étienne, France, on Monday, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) said in a statement. Ferns staff reported the drone to police, who arrested the operator, a member of the Canadian team.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee said a separate drone incident came to light during New Zealand’s training on July 19. As a result, Canada head coach Bev Priestman said she would recus herself from overseeing Thursday’s match against New Zealand. The COC added that Joseph Lombardi, a “non-accredited analyst,” and Jasmine Mander, a coach who supervises Lombardi, had been removed from the team and sent home. The committee said Canada Soccer staff would also undergo “mandatory ethics training.”
The COC’s initial statement on Wednesday morning confirmed that Lombardi used a drone “to film the New Zealand women’s soccer team during training.” The COC apologized to the New Zealand players, the federation and the International Olympic Committee, saying it was “shocked and disappointed.”
FIFA confirmed later on Wednesday that its disciplinary committee had opened proceedings against Canada Soccer, Priestman, Mander and Lombardi. The incident represented a possible breach of FIFA and Olympic football’s fair play rules.
Priestman will not be sidelined for Canada’s match against New Zealand (Logan Riely/Getty Images)
“On behalf of our entire team, I would like to first of all apologize to the players and staff of New Zealand Football and to the players of Team Canada,” Priestman said later. “This does not represent the values that our team stands for.
“I am ultimately responsible for the conduct of our program. In order to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily step aside from coaching Thursday’s game. In the spirit of accountability, I do so with the best interests of both teams in mind and to ensure that everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is being upheld.”
A statement from FIFA said: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has initiated proceedings against Canada Soccer, Ms Beverly Priestman, Mr Joseph Lombardi and Ms Jasmine Mander for possible breaches of Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and Article 6.1 of the Regulations of the Olympic Football Tournaments of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 – Final, following incidents involving an unaccredited member of the Canadian delegation to the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, who is believed to have used a drone to film the New Zealand women’s football team.
“The matter will be submitted to the Disciplinary Committee for consideration in the coming days.”
Drones were a major topic at the Paris Games, with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal say tuesday that an average of six drones per day were intercepted at Olympic venues, mainly from tourists wanting to capture the spectacle.
The women’s soccer tournament begins Thursday. Canada and New Zealand open Group A action at 5 p.m. local time/11 a.m. ET in Saint-Étienne, in a group with France and Colombia. Canada is currently ranked eighth in the world, according to FIFA, while New Zealand is 28th.
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(Photo: Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP via Getty)
