‘Cannot condone’: Australian Olympic athlete marched out after cocaine bust in Paris
An Australian male hockey player has learned his fate after being arrested in Paris over an alleged cocaine incident.
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Australian hockey player Tom Craig who was caught by police trying to buy cocaine in Paris has been punted from the Atheletes Village and has lost all of his “Olympic privileges”.
The 28-year-old escaped conviction after he tried to run from police during the incident on Thursday morning (AEST) which saw him spend the night in a holding cell.
Craig was allegedly in possession of one gram of cocaine, according to public broadcaster FranceInfo.
He received a warning from a French judge and will not be convicted or fined.
In a statement, Australian Olympic Committee chef de mission Anna Meares said she was “glad” the matter was resolved, however, Craig would be stripped of his Olympic privileges.
“I cannot condone what Tom has done. He is a good person who made a bad decision. But there are consequences for decisions like this,” she said.
“As a result, Tom will lose all his remaining Olympic privileges. He had already moved out of the Olympic Village, and I understand he was not intending to return for the Closing Ceremony. If he were, he would not be able to attend.”
Craig was part of the Kookaburras squad which was eliminated in the quarter-final earlier this week.
“Our Team has been exemplary at these Games and his actions do not reflect the values of the Team nor does it diminish this Team’s performance,” Ms Meares said.
“He has apologised, shown remorse, he has owned up to his mistake, and we will support him if he needs help.
“In terms of our actions, at this point there is not much further we can do as this happened outside the Team environment.”
Craig was caught trying to buy the drugs after a Hockey Australia function in Montmartre on Tuesday night local time.
He made a brief statement outside a Paris police station alongside AOC officials.
“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 told waiting reporters.
”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.”
Hockey’s high performance director Bernard Savage told the media that when he met with Craig before he was released from his 18 hours in custody he was in “a bad way”.
“He was dishevelled. He was tired. He was hungry. He was stressed,” he said.
Mr Savage also said Craig acted alone and only briefly attempted to flee police.
“If it was that he did try to run away it was very, very short lived and very, very quickly brought under control by both the police and Tom realising that it was time to sit down,” he said.
Craig won silver with the Kookaburras at the Tokyo Olympics and has played more than 100 games for the side.
Paris police said officers arrested the Olympian after observing a “cocaine transaction” between the striker and a 17-year-old dealer.
The seller was also arrested with possession of 75 ecstasy pills, 3 grams of 2 MMC and seven vials of cocaine.
“Police officers who witnessed a cocaine transaction at the foot of a building in the 9th arrondissement, on the night of August 6 to 7, arrested the seller, born in December 2006, and the buyer, born in September 1995 in Australia and who is said to be a member of the Australian field hockey team,” a spokesman said.
Craig’s girlfriend is Alice Arnott, a star member of the Hockeyroos team in Paris.
The couple have shared photos together showing them enjoying their time together in Paris.
He is a Sydney product and has previously lived in the northern suburb of Lane Cove.
Originally published as ‘Cannot condone’: Australian Olympic athlete marched out after cocaine bust in Paris
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