USMNT soccer legend Tim Howard as he delves into the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic soccer competition while addressing the challenges faced by U.S. Soccer on the Olympic stage.
The assistant coach of the Canadian women's soccer team was kicked off the country's Olympic squad after a drone flown over a New Zealand women’s soccer team training session was believed to have been operated by someone from Canada's support staff, the Canadian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.
Also out in the drone foul is a Canadian analyst.
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In addition, the head coach, Bev Priestman, has removed herself from coaching the team against New Zealand on Thursday, the Canadian committee said.
"Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, is being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and will be sent home immediately," the committee said in a statement.
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"Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to whom Mr. Lombardi reports to, is being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and will be sent home immediately," it said.
Priestman apologized to the players and staff of New Zealand soccer, and to the players on her Canadian team.
"This does not represent the values that our team stands for," Priestman said. " I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team's commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday."
The Canadian Olympic Committee said it also had learned of a second drone incident at a July 19 New Zealand practice.
This is the second Olympic controversy of the week. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin of Britain withdrew from the Paris Games after a video emerged that she says shows her behaving inappropriately while coaching other riders.
Dujardin said in a statement that the video from four years ago “shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session.” It wasn't clear what video Dujardin referred to or what specifically the video shows.
Dujardin said the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, or FEI, is investigating.
“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils; however, there is no excuse,” Dujardin said in a statement on Instagram. “I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.
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Defending Olympic soccer champion Canada and New Zealand meet in their opening match at the Olympic tournament.
New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit about the drone, which occurred on Monday.
“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 New Zealand Olympic Committee said in a statement.
“The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review," it said.
The committee said it and New Zealand Football “are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games — 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.”
It’s not the first time a Canadian soccer team has been involved in a drone controversy involving an international rival’s training session.
In 2021 at Toronto, Honduras stopped a training session ahead of its men’s World Cup qualifier against Canada after spotting a drone above the field, according to reports in Honduran media. The teams played to a 1-1 draw.
