Canada women's soccer coach will step aside for the team's opener because of drone incidents

Canada women's soccer coach Bev Priestman said Wednesday she'll step away from the team's opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal.

New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. Canada, the defending Olympic champion, was set to open the Paris Games on Thursday against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne.

In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and Canada Soccer analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the Canadian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.

Priestman said she was voluntarily removing herself from the opener "with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”

In a statement, Priestman also apologized to New Zealand.

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada," she said. "This does not represent the values that our team stands for.”

Assistant coach Andy Spence will lead Canada in the opener.

Priestman also spoke briefly in person to reporters after training.

“By no means did I direct the individuals,” she said. “I’m still learning the details and obviously this is all unfolding. But again, I think the important thing right now is to look forward, put the actions in place and take the sanctions.”

FIFA, soccer's international governing body, said its disciplinary committee had opened hearings against Canada Soccer, Priestman, Lombardi and Mander. Canada Soccer announced late Wednesday that it would conduct an independent review.

The COC confirmed Tuesday that a nonaccredited member of Canada’s soccer team staff was detained by French authorities after a drone was spotted above training.

A French court on Wednesday sentenced a 43-year-old Canadian man to an eight-month suspended sentence for filming two of New Zealand's closed training sessions with an aerial device.

The man, who was not named, admitted to the charges and identified himself an independent sports analyst for the Canadian federation, according to the Saint Etienne prosecutor David Charmatz.

The COC also apologized to the New Zealand Olympic Committee and New Zealand Football.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair play and we are shocked and disappointed,” the statement said. “We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.”

The NZOC 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.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Canada's players pose for photos on the pitch at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Saint-Etienne, France. Canada is scheduled to play New Zealand on Thursday, July 25. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Canada's players walk on the pitch at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Saint-Etienne, France. Canada is scheduled to play New Zealand on Thursday, July 25. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Coach Beverly Priestman of Canada takes photos on the pitch at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Saint-Etienne, France. Canada is scheduled to play New Zealand on Thursday, July 25. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was due in court Tuesday on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges that accuse him of hitting and abusing women for over a decade and presiding over an empire of sexual crimes.

The music mogul “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Detailing allegations dating to 2009, the indictment accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

Combs had been arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations, and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty and that he would “fight like hell” to try to get his client released from custody.

Of Combs, Agnifilo said, “His spirits are good. He’s confident.”

The indictment accuses Combs of striking, punching and dragging women on numerous occasions, throwing objects and kicking them — and enlisting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help hide it all.

The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise engaged in or attempting to engage in activities including sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.

Combs, 54, was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.

In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.

The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”

“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.

A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.

Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.

This story has been corrected to show that Combs' age is 54, not 58.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)