NICE, France — The Olympic women’s soccer tournament is starting with some unexpected drama, following a complaint from New Zealand’s Olympic Committee concerning a potential attempt at spying on a training session ahead of the Paris Games.
A drone was flown over a Ferns training session in Saint-Étienne, France, on Monday, New Zealand’s Olympic Committee (NZOC) said in a statement Tuesday. Ferns staffers reported the drone to police, who detained the operator, identified as a staff member of the “wider Canadian Women’s Football team,” according to the statement. The NZOC logged the incident to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) integrity unit and asked Canada’s Olympic Committee for a review.
New Zealand and Canada are in Group A for the Olympic tournament, along with France and Colombia.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) issued its own statement Wednesday, clarifying that the drone operator was a “non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team” but confirming that the staff member “is believed to have been using a drone to record the New Zealand women’s football team during practice.”
The COC apologized to New Zealand’s players, federation and the Olympic Committee, saying it was “shocked and disappointed.”
As of early…
