Canada’s assistant coach excluded from Olympics after drone incident

The Canadian Olympic Committee said women’s soccer assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi have been removed from the Canadian Olympic team and sent home following two drone incidents at the Paris Games.

The restructure came after the COC reviewed a drone incident in Saint-Etienne. There were reports that drones flew over New Zealand’s training units on both Monday and last Friday.

“Joseph Lombardi, a non-accredited analyst with Canada Soccer, will be removed from the Canadian Olympic team and sent home immediately,” COC said in a statement.

“Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach who reports to Mr. Lombardi, will be removed from the Canadian Olympic team and sent home immediately.”

The drone was flown on Monday and the incident was reported by the New Zealand Olympic Committee to police and the International Olympic Committee Integrity Unit.

“The NZOC and the New Zealand Football Association are committed to 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’ opening match at Paris 2024,” the NZOC said in a statement.

According to the COC, Canada Soccer employees must complete mandatory ethics training.

The COC also said it had accepted head coach Bev Priestman’s decision to step down from coaching the team’s opening match against New Zealand on Thursday.

The Canadian women’s soccer team won Olympic gold in Tokyo three years ago.

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