Australian hockey player arrested in Paris for buying cocaine

Australia’s Olympic hockey player Tom Craig was arrested in Paris and is being held in custody for buying cocaine, a police union source said on Wednesday.

The Australian Olympic Committee had earlier said that amember of the men’s hockey team had been arrested without naming the player. The Paris prosecutor’s office also did not confirm the player’s name but said an Australian athlete had been detained for buying cocaine.

Craig, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, has played more than 100 games for the national side.

Australia’s men’s team, known as the Kookaburras, were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Paris tournament with a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands on Sunday.

“Police officers who witnessed a cocaine transaction at the foot of a building in the ninth arrondissement (of Paris), on the night of August 6 to 7, arrested the seller, born in December 2006, and the buyer, born in September 1995 in Australia,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Craig was born on Sept. 3, 1995, according to his profile on the Paris 2024 results website.

Australia’s Olympic Committee (AOC) said no charges had been laid. It did not comment on the reason for the arrest.

“The AOC is continuing to make enquiries and arrange support for the team member,” the committee said in a statement.

French media cited police sources as saying Craig had bought about one gram of cocaine.

There was no immediate comments from the International Hockey Federation, the sport’s global governing body.