Canada staff member arrested by French police as spy row breaks out at Paris Olympic Games

The Paris Olympics have been rocked by a row over spying on the first day of competitive action at the Games.

While the opening ceremony of the Games only takes place on Friday, action gets underway on Wednesday afternoon with the football and rugby sevens events both kicking off.

The men's football tournament begins with Argentina taking on Morocco and Spain playing Uzbekistan in their opening games, while the women's tournament starts on Thursday with Canada facing New Zealand and Spain playing Japan.

There has been huge controversy ahead of reigning Olympic champions Canada's opening match, following allegations they spied on their opening opponents to gain an unfair advantage.

A member of Canada's support staff has been arrested by French police following the spying allegations from New Zealand.

They claim a drone was used to infiltrate a training session at their base in St Etienne ahead of the match against Canada at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The Kiwis have issued a formal complaint with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) integrity unit and have demanded a full explanation from Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

In a statement, (via The Sun) they said: "The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident, which occurred just three days before the sides are due to face each other in their opening game of Paris 2024.

"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."

Canada are the Olympic champions in women's football (Image: Getty)

The Canadian Olympic Committee said they had been "made aware" that a "non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team" had been arrested and detained by French police.

"The staff member is believed to have been using a drone to record the New Zealand football team during practice," read a statement.

"The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed.

"We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

"We are reviewing next steps with the IOC, Parius 2024, Canada Soccer and FIFA."