PARIS — A Canada soccer staffer was caught flying a drone over New Zealand training earlier this week as the two teams prepared to meet on opening day of the women's soccer competition here at the 2024 Olympics.
The staffer, Joseph Lombardi, was detained, and has now been sent home from the Games, the Canada Olympic Committee said Wednesday.
But only after French police searched his hotel room, recovered the drone footage, and got him to admit that the videos of two closed training sessions "had enabled him to learn the tactics of the opposing team," the local prosecutor's office said in a statement.