[Source: Reuters]

New Zealand’s Olympic Committee says its women’s soccer team had their training session disrupted by a drone flown by a staff member of the Canadian team they face in Group A on Thursday.

The NZ Olympic Committee in a statement says the team support members have 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 incident was immediately reported to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit and Team Canada has since apologized and is said to be investigating.

The NZOC and New Zealand Football say they are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident.

The incident occurred just three days before the sides are due to face each other in their opening game of Paris 2024.