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New Zealand said it had lodged a complaint with the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after the drone flight. New Zealand women’s national football team It was found that the training sessions were organised by members Canada team support staff.

Reigning Olympic champions Canada and New Zealand will face off in their opening match at Paris 2024 Olympic Games Thursday. The drone incident happened earlier this week, the New Zealand Olympic Committee said Wednesday.

“The team support staff immediately reported the incident to police, which resulted in the detention of the drone operator, who was identified as a member of the Canadian women’s football team support staff,” the NZOC said in a statement.

“The NZOC has formally referred the incident to the IOC Integrity Unit and requested that Canada conduct a full review.”

The NZOC statement said Canada apologized for the incident and was investigating.

“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 two teams are due to face each other in their opening match at Paris 2024,” the NZOC said.

“The NZOC’s main priority at present is to support New Zealand’s female football athletes and the wider team as they begin their campaign.”

This is not the first time a Canadian football team has been accused of using drones to film the training sessions of its international rival team.

In 2021 in Toronto, Honduras has halted training ahead of the men’s World Cup qualifier against Canada after seeing the drone above the pitch, according to Honduran media. The two teams drew 1-1.

Associated Press report.

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