Hugo Lloris has revealed how France’s players took turns kicking balls high into the air in an ambitious bid to knock down the drone that hovered over one of their training sessions last week, reports The Times.
Didier Deschamps expressed concern that France may have been spied on, after the drone flew over the Botafogo’s Santa Cruz stadium in Ribeirao Preto, where Les Bleus were training last Tuesday in preparation for their opening match against Honduras, which they won 3-0 last night.
Fifa disputed Deschamps’ claims that they were investigating the incident, but Lloris said the players amused themselves by using balls as missiles in a futile attempt to hit the small unmanned aircraft.
“It’s a good invention - it looked like a little helicopter,” the France goalkeeper said. “Very small and it flew well. It’s a good object for journalists. We heard it and then we saw it.
“We didn’t see anyone controlling it. Maybe they were behind the stand. It didn’t stay over us for a long time. There was nothing we could do to stop it except kick the ball at it. But it’s a big challenge to hit it.
“Players can do nothing about that. We can’t have control of the drone. Maybe the guy is from the hotel just behind the stand and you can’t see him. Maybe with a good job by security we can find him.”
Read more of this report from The Times.