World Cup soccer now has its own "Spygate" after France's manager Dider Deschamps charged over the weekend that a drone was used to spy on his team's practice before its match Sunday with Honduras.
ESPN reported that FIFA was looking into the claim about the use of the drone as France prepared for pool play in Group E last week.
"Apparently drones are used more and more," Deschamps told reporters during a news conference. "It's not up to me. FIFA handles this and has been carrying out an inquiry. We don't want any intrusion into our privacy. It's very hard to fight this these days."
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Deschamps didn't point a finger at any team in particular, but a reporter from Honduras felt compelled to defend his country when Deschamps brought up the charges,
according to London's The Telegraph. Switzerland and Ecuador are a part of Group E with France and Honduras.
"The drone was not from us," the reporter said.
Deschamps had described Honduras as "an aggressive team" before its match Sunday,
reported The Guardian.
"They play as a team, defend well, we know about the two attacking players who are very bulky, the defenders are tough," Deschamps said. "It's a rather aggressive team but it's a high quality team, a South American team. Maybe they are more aggressive than others but it's not only that."
If there were efforts to spy on France, it didn't help much as the French cruised to a 3-0 victory over Honduras Sunday in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The term "Spygate" popped up in 2007 when a member of the NFL's New England Patriots was caught recording signals of New York Jets defensive coaches, against league rules,
according to Fox News, eventually costing the team fines and a first-round draft pick in 2008.
France, World Cup winners in 1998 and a finalist in 2006, famously melted down as a team in 2010 and didn't get out of pool play in South Africa, reported ESPN.
"You shouldn't mention South Africa," Deschamps told reporters. "We're now in another World Cup. We're in Brazil, and we're not going to be judged by what we did four years ago. It's wonderful to have a good atmosphere here. We have supporters behind the team."
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