Spy-drone scandals to smoking violations: The Paris 2024 athletes and coaches facing controversies | World News

Before the starting pistol has officially been fired, the Paris 2024 Olympics has faced a number of controversies.

With the opening ceremony of the games taking place along the River Seine at 7.30pm local time (6.30pm UK time) on Friday, travel disruption has left some panicking about whether they will be able to attend.

Chaos erupted on Friday morning after vandals carried out arson attacks on France’s high-speed train network, causing travel disruption to the thousands set to travel to the French capital.

Paris Olympics latest: Trains carrying athletes caught up in rail network chaos

Controversy has also surrounded some of those who are or were due to compete at the games.

Here, we list all the incidents that have occurred in the build-up to the 33rd edition of the summer tournament:

Drone spying scandal

Canada’s women’s football team was thrown into disarray the day before the Olympic opening ceremony after head coach Bev Priestman was suspended by Soccer Canada.

It followed allegations that two staff members had flown a drone over a training session of their New Zealand opponents.

On 22 July, the New Zealand team made a complaint against the Canadian team and a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team was detained by French authorities in Saint-Etienne, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said.

Ms Preistman denied any knowledge of the incident.

However, David Shoemaker, chief executive of the COC, said on Thursday that new information had come to its attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, which predated the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

He added that Ms Priestman was “highly likely” to have been aware of the incidents – despite her previous denial.

He said he was comfortable with Canada’s women’s team remaining in Paris to defend the gold they won at the Tokyo Olympics, despite calls for the team to be disqualified completely.

“If more facts and circumstances emerge, we can continue to contemplate further action as necessary,” Mr Shoemaker said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Priestman confirmed she took responsibility for the actions of her colleagues.

Assistant Andy Spence will coach Canada for the remainder of the Games.

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Withdrawal of Charlotte Dujardin

On Wednesday, four days before the opening ceremony, British dressage athlete Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Paris Games after a video emerged of her whipping a horse repeatedly.

The rider said the footage was taken several years ago and showed her making an “error of judgement during a coaching session”.

The athlete – who is one of Britain’s joint-most decorated athletes with six Olympic medals – has been given a provisional suspension from the sport until the conclusion of an investigation by the world governing body – the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

Inclusion of a convicted rapist

Convicted rapist Steven Van de Velde was controversially picked to represent the Netherlands during the beach volleyball event at the Paris Games.

Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl in England two years earlier. He served a four-year prison sentence, partly in England and the Netherlands.

The athlete is staying in alternative accommodation to the Olympic village and is banned from speaking to the media during the games following a wave of criticism.

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But Dutch Olympic bosses have defended his selection and the Dutch volleyball federation (Nevobo) said he was “proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return”.

The Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC) said Van de Velde had returned to the playing arena “following a specialist treatment programme”.

In an interview with LBC, former British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe wished the athlete the “best of luck”, drawing parallels with him and drug cheats who are given a second chance in sport.

She later took back her comments, saying she was “mortified” and apologised for the way she phrased her words.

Withdrawal of Japan’s gymnastic captain

Another withdrawal from the games came after the captain of Japan’s women’s gymnastics team was found to have violated the country’s rules by drinking alcohol and smoking.

Shoko Miyata, 19, left the team’s training camp in Monaco around 19 July after an investigation by the Japanese Gymnastics Association (JGA) confirmed the violation.

In Japan, the legal age for drinking and smoking is 20.

She had been expected to lead the team to victory, securing Japan’s first medal in the sport since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but the squad will now compete with four athletes instead of five, the JGA said.

French sprinter ‘banned’ from opening ceremony

On Sunday, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla took to social media, claiming she had been barred from the opening ceremony of the games because she wears a hijab.

It followed the president of the French Olympic Committee saying that French Olympians are bound by the country’s secular principles that separate state and church, and bans hijabs.

The 26-year-old sprinter, who will compete in the women’s mixed 400-metre relay, criticised the decision, writing on Instagram: “You are selected for the Olympics, organised by your country, but you can’t participate in the opening ceremony because you wear a headscarf.”

But after talks with the French Athletics Federation and the French Ministry of Sports, Ms Sylla said that she had agreed to wear a cap during the opening ceremony parade on the River Seine.

Thanking her fellow athletes who had spoken out in support, she said on Thursday: “I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your mobilisation and support since the beginning.”