Canada send two staff members home from Paris Olympics following drone incident

The Canadian Olympic Committee have confirmed that two members of the women’s coaching staff have been sent home from the Paris Olympics following a drone incident ahead of their opening game against New Zealand.

Head coach Bev Priestman, who led Canada to their maiden gold medal success in Tokyo, has also voluntarily withdrawn from coaching her team’s Group A opener in Saint-Etienne on Thursday.

FIFA said it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer after New Zealand’s women’s team said their training session on Monday had been disrupted by a drone ahead of their encounter.

Jasmine Mander, Priestman’s assistant, was sent home along with “unaccredited analyst” Joseph Lombardi following the incident.

Lombardi is the director of the National Development Centre Ontario and Women’s U-20 program. Mander was Priestman’s assistant at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Cup last summer.

Priestman apologised for what had happened and said the ultimate responsibility lay with her.

“I first and foremost want to apologise to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,” Priestman said.

“This does not represent the values that our team stands for. I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program.”

Our squad //
Notre équipe #CANWNT pic.twitter.com/RYzNQDAusW

— CANWNT (@CANWNT) July 23, 2024

The COC confirmed on Wednesday that a “non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team” was detained by authorities.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair play and we are shocked and disappointed,” it added in a statement.

“We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.”