PARIS – A member of Australia’s Olympic field hockey team received a criminal warning in Paris after attempting to buy cocaine and was released from custody, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that police had stopped a drug deal outside a building in Paris’ 9th arrondissement on the night of Tuesday. It said the investigation had been handed over to a police anti-drug unit.
The alleged buyer is a 28-year-old player from the Australian national field hockey team, the public prosecutor’s office said. The 17-year-old alleged seller was also arrested.
The Olympic athlete was brought before a judge later on Wednesday to receive a criminal warning, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.
Under French law, a criminal caution is an alternative to prosecution for first-time offenders, on condition that they admit their guilt and do not commit another crime within the next two years.
The Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement that no charges had been filed and said it “continues to investigate and organize support for the team member.”
Neither the Australian authorities nor the Paris prosecutors revealed the name of the athlete.
A spokesman for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) declined to comment. The spokesman said the organisation had no further information beyond the Australian Olympic Committee’s statement.
Australia’s men’s and women’s teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals on Sunday and Monday respectively. The men won silver at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
