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Australian Olympic hockey player pictured during cocaine arrest: ‘I’ve embarrassed you all’
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An Olympic hockey player has apologised for his “terrible mistake” after he was caught buying cocaine from an alleged underage dealer in Paris.
Australian Tom Craig, 28, was taken into custody following after being arrested in the nightspot Pigalle area of the French capital while reportedly in possession of the Class A drug.
After he was released from custody with a warning on Wednesday afternoon, Craig told Australian media: “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.”
He had been out with other Kookaburras players but Hockey Australia high-performance director Bernard Savage said he was acting alone.
“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,” added Craig. “I’ve embarrassed you all and I’m truly sorry.”
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the night began with a friends and family function at a hotel after the team missed out on medals. Craig, and several 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, told reporters Craig’s teammates were not with him when he approached the drug dealer.
“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.
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 short-lived and very, very quickly brought under control by the police and Tom realising that he had to sit down,” Savage said.
Craig, who will now head to Germany to play club hockey, still faces a Hockey Australia investigation. Local prosecutors said he had been spotted ‘at the foot of a building in the 9th arrondissement’, shortly after midnight.
