Scandal at the Paris Olympics: rival Canada spied on New Zealand women’s soccer players with a drone –

It is completely natural in sports that the competing parties try to thoroughly prepare their rivals, and video analysis serves this purpose in team sports such as football. However, there is a serious problem with looking back at older matches: it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about the current tactics from them. Pre-match training sessions are much more suitable for this, except that they are understandably not welcome to see anyone from the opponent’s staff, for a reason they are usually held behind closed doors.

Probably aware that what he did was unethical and hardly consistent with sportsmanship or the spirit of the Olympic Games, an unaccredited support staff member of the Canadian women’s soccer team flew a drone over the field on Monday, July 22, when the new – trained the Zealand national team.

The spying did not last long, as the New Zealanders spotted the structure and immediately reported the matter to the police. The authorities in Saint-Etienne quickly identified and then detained the operator of the drone. The country’s Olympic Committee expressed his disappointment because of the incident, which took place three days before the match between the two national teams (the match starts early this evening at 5 p.m.).

The Canadian Olympic Committee also responded. He first admitted that a member of the support staff had been detained for using a drone camera to record a training session for the New Zealand women’s soccer team. And because of what happened excused both from the rival team and the New Zealand federation. A little later, the personal consequences of the case made public.

Joseph Lombardi, the analyst who operated the drone, was removed from the Olympic team with immediate effect and sent home. So did assistant coach Jasmine Mander, with whom Lombardi worked. And the national team captain, Bev Priestman, made the decision not to participate as a coach in the match between the two countries. In addition, members of the staff supporting the Canadian national soccer team will be required to attend ethics training.