‘I’ve embarrassed you all’: Hockey star released as photo emerges of cocaine arrest

Paris: Australian hockey player Tom Craig has apologised and expressed embarrassment after escaping conviction for allegedly buying cocaine from an underage dealer in a Paris street.

On Wednesday afternoon, Paris time, a photo emerged of Craig being taken into custody after he was spotted allegedly purchasing the drugs on a street in the 9th arrondissement, a trendy neighbourhood known for its theatres and nightlife.

Australian hockey player Tom Craig being taken into custody.Credit: @CerfiaFR

Craig, 28, was released from custody with a warning on Wednesday afternoon, Paris time. He had been out with other Kookaburras players but Hockey Australia high-performance director Bernard Savage said he was acting alone.

He had already moved out of the Olympic village.

“I’d firstly like to apologise for what has occurred over the past 24 hours. I made a terrible mistake and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Craig said after emerging from the police station.

“My actions are my own and in no way reflect the values of my family, my teammates, my friends, my sport and the Australian Olympic Committee. I’ve embarrassed you all and I’m truly sorry.”

The night began with a friends and family function at a hotel - an end of tournament celebration for the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras after bowing out before the medal matches.

Tom Craig leaving police custody in Paris with Hockey Australia’s high performance manager Bernard Savage.Credit: Eddie Jim

At about 7.30pm Craig, and a number of other Kookaburras players decided to continue celebrating at a nearby bar. His girlfriend, Hockeyroos star Alice Arnott, was not with Craig at the time of his arrest.

Both Savage and AOC chef de mission Anna Meares, who fronted the media on Wednesday night, Paris time, said Craig’s teammates were not with him when he approached the drug dealer and only came to his aid when they heard commotion outside the establishment they were at.

“It’s our understanding that Tom was acting alone and the only events that brought him to the players attention was him indeed being arrested,” Savage said.

Tom Craig after his release from police custody in Paris.Credit: Eddie Jim

They couldn’t confirm whether Craig tried to flee the scene on foot but admitted that he did initially resist arrest.

“If it was that he did try to run away, it was very shortlived and very, very quickly brought under control by the police and Tom realising that he had to sit down,” Savage said.

Craig’s teammates then followed him to the police station and were under the impression he would be leaving the same night.

They contacted his family, who organised for a lawyer - who coincidentally turned out to be the AOC’s lawyer of choice - to try to have him released from custody.

Tom Craig pictured playing for the Kookaburras in 2019.Credit: Hockey Australia

That did not occur for another 18 hours. The AOC organised for the lawyer to take some bananas, Powerade and fresh clothes for him to change into before he walked out the front of the police compound to a large media scrum that had been waiting for him to surface for more than six hours.

“He’d been in custody for over 18 hours,” Savage said. “He was dishevelled, he was tired, he was stressed.”

Meares said Craig would lose all his remaining Olympic privileges, although he had not intended to go to the closing ceremony.

“If he was, he wouldn’t be able to attend,” Meares said.

“I cannot condone what Tom has done. He is a good person who made a bad decision but there are consequences that come with decisions like this,” she added.

“Our team has been exemplary at these Games and his actions do not reflect the values of this team, nor do they diminish their performances.

“He has apologised, shown remorse and owned up for his mistake.”

Craig, who will now head to Germany to play club hockey, will be at the centre of a Hockey Australia investigation as they determine a potential sanction for his actions in Paris.

Tom Craig was remorseful for his actions when speaking to the media after 18 hours in custody.Credit: Eddie Jim

The Parisian neighbourhood where Craig was arrested is close to Boulevard de Clichy, a major nightlife precinct home to the famous Moulin Rouge theatre.

In a statement released to this masthead earlier on Wednesday, the Paris office of public prosecutors said officers had observed the alleged “cocaine transaction” between the player and a 17-year-old seller.

“With regard to the quantities of narcotics seized from the seller, the investigations have been entrusted to the Narcotics Squad,” the statement said.

According to initial reports by Europe 1, the dealer was also arrested after being found in possession of 75 ecstasy pills, 3 grams of 2 MMC (a recreational designer drug), and seven vials of cocaine.

Under French legislation, people caught using illicit substances and prohibited narcotics can face up to a year in prison and fines of €3750 ($6240).

However, those found in possession of a small amount of controlled drugs for personal consumption can opt to pay a fixed fine of €200 ($332).

The fines were introduced in 2020 following a raft of legislative changes the previous year that sought to reduce the backlog of cases in criminal courts and streamline police work.

Craig, who first represented Australia with the Kookaburras in 2014, made his Olympic debut at the previous Games in Tokyo, where Australia reached their first Olympic final since 2004. The Kookaburras fell short of winning gold, losing to Belgium, but took home the silver, Craig’s only Olympic medal.

The 28-year-old, who also hosts a hockey podcast called The Help Side, was recently admitted as a solicitor.

Business owners and neighbours in the area where Craig was arrested told this masthead it was not uncommon for dealers to sell drugs in the area around Rue de Douai.

Abed El Derbi, the manager at Le Carrousel, a former cabaret turned into a pub, said there had been multiple drug-related arrests in the area this year.

“In the area you have a lot of drugs going on,” he said.“You have a lot of nightlife activity that goes on in the area. A lot of nightclubs, a lot of tourists, a lot of people who want to party.”

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