'Unaccredited analyst' at centre of Olympic drone scandal is senior Canada Soccer official

The Canada Soccer staffer at the centre of the Olympic Games drone scandal appears to have a more formal, senior role in the organization than what officials previously let on this week, according to online records reviewed by CBC News.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) on Wednesday identified Joseph Lombardi as an "unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer" who had been removed from the team and was to be "sent home immediately" amid allegations that someone connected to the women's team had twice used a drone to watch and record New Zealand's team while they practised. 

The COC said in the same statement it had also removed from the team and sent home Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach to whom Lombardi reported. 

French prosecutors said police had on Monday morning arrested a man matching Lombardi's description near the stadium in Saint-Étienne, where New Zealand's team was practising. They found footage of that practice and of an earlier one.

But a COC news release issued on July 1 listed Lombardi as an official member of the women's national team's six-person coaching staff, led by head coach Bev Priestman.

Canada Soccer spokesperson Paulo Senra confirmed on Thursday afternoon that Lombardi remains the director of the federation's Women's Excel program, described on its website as a means for players to progress from youth levels to the national team.

In a video posted online last month by Ontario Soccer, the provincial body's manager of match official development, David Barrie, said Lombardi "served as Canada national's team staff coach, performing… analysis for both the men's and women's national team programs — senior and youth levels."

According to a staff list posted online for a CONCACAF Nations League