Australian Olympic hockey player Tom Craig will not be allowed to attend the Olympic closing ceremony after being arrested in Paris after allegedly trying to buy cocaine.
The 28-year-old spent a night in a Paris police station before being released without charge. Upon his release, Craig made an apologetic statement.
“I’d firstly like to apologise for what has occurred over the past 24 hours,” he told media outside a police station.
“I made a terrible mistake, and I take full responsibility for my actions. My actions are my own and by no way reflect the values of family, my teammates, my friends, my sport and the Australian Olympic team.
“I’ve embarrassed you all, and I’m truly sorry.”
According to the Hockey Australia high-performance director Bernard Strange, Craig sought out the illegal substance without the knowledge of the other members of his team The Kookaburras, who were out on the town with him.
“It is our understanding that Tom was acting alone, and the only events that brought the players or him to the player’s attention was him indeed being arrested,” he said, per The Guardian.
Chef de Mission Anna Meares told the press that she would not be naming the other players who saw Craig’s arrest.
“They heard the commotion, went out and saw that Tom had been arrested. They spoke with police officers, the arresting officers, were able to follow to the police station concerned for Tom’s welfare, and from there, they reached out to Tom’s family who reached out to our lawyers,” she told The Guardian.
“Athletes are very welcome, and they should be able to go out and celebrate, that’s not an un-normal thing. It’s the simple actions and the decision here for Tom [that is the problem], and he’s owned up to that.”
The news of Craig’s arrest was initially broken by French journalist Jean-Baptiste Marty in a post to X (formerly Twitter).
“A member of the Australian field hockey team was arrested last night after [allegedly] buying cocaine on a street in the 9th arrondissement of Paris,” Marty wrote.
Marty also claimed that the dealer was also arrested.
According to French law, buying illicit substances under $249 AUD can result in a fine of 200 euros.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are the second Games that Craig has attended. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Craig and his team The Kookaburras claimed a silver medal.
However, this time around the Olympic campaign ended early for the team after they lost 2-0 to the Netherlands in their quarter-final on Sunday.
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