The incident occurred during New Zealand's training session in St Etienne, disrupting their preparations for the tournament.
Canadian women's football team coach Beverly Priestman will not be present at the dugout during the team's opening match against New Zealand at the Paris 2024 Olympics due to allegations of flying a drone over a rival's training session.
Two coaching staff members, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, have been sent back home by the Canadian Olympic Committee after being accused of involvement in the drone incident, Reuters reports.
The incident occurred during New Zealand's training session in St Etienne, disrupting their preparations for the tournament.
FIFA has begun disciplinary proceedings against Canada Soccer, Beverly Priestman, Joseph Lombardi, and Jasmine Mander, while the Canadian Olympic Committee has apologised and promised a review of the incident.
Beverly Priestman has apologised and taken responsibility for the actions of her staff, emphasising the importance of integrity and fair play.
“On July 22, a drone was flown over the New Zealand women’s football team training session in St Etienne.
“Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, leading to the drone operator, who has been identified as a support staff member of the wider Canadian Women’s football team, to be detained," NZOC said.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said they were informed of the incident involving “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team,” adding at the time that they were “reviewing next steps with the IOC, Paris 2024, Canada Soccer and FIFA.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee,” they said in a statement.
Priestman later added a statement of her own and confirmed she would step aside for the first game, apologising again to New Zealand.
“This does not represent the values that our team stands for. I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program,” the coach said.
“Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday.”