Canada send two staff members home over Olympic drone spying scandal after New Zealand complaint as head coach Bev Priestman steps down from opening game

New Zealand's opening game of the 2024 Paris Olympics against Canada has been plunged into controversy due to a spying scandal. The Football Ferns lodged a complaint after seeing a drone flying over a training session in Saint-Etienne ahead of their meeting with the reigning Olympic gold medallists on Thursday - and reported the drone operator to police.

A statement from the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) read: "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. The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review. Team Canada has issued an apology and is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

"The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident, which occurred just three days before the sides are due to face each other in their opening game of Paris 2024. At this time the NZOC’s main priority is to support the New Zealand women’s football athletes and wider team as they start their campaign."

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) offered a swift apology and admitted to being shocked by the incident. A statement read: "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."

On Wednesday, the COC revealed that a second drone incident had come to light, with “unaccredited analyst” Joseph Lombardi and the coach who he sent the report to, Jasmine Mander, ordered to leave the camp - as per The Athletic. The report adds that ‘mandatory ethics training’ will now be given to the rest of the Canada Soccer staff. Meanwhile, head coach Priestman has decided to remove herself from the touchline for Thursday's game between the two nations.

It's not clear yet what, if any, consequences there will be for Canada, who won gold in 2021, following New Zealand's complaint. Meanwhile, the two teams are scheduled to meet on Thursday in their opening game of the tournament at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Both nations have been drawn in Group A along with hosts France and Colombia.