What in the world was that first day of soccer at the Summer Games?

Olympic soccer isn’t supposed to be like this.

What transpired on the first day of competition in the men’s portion of the Summer Games was dirty, it was political, and even featured an undercurrent of racism — ironically at the same tournament designed to bring the world together.

In fact, it was the women’s game that got the party started after it was revealed that Canada, the defending champions of the Olympic Games, flew a drone over the training session of New Zealand, its opening Group A opponent.

The silly decision saw two Canadian staffers and its coach removing themselves from Thursday’s game. The reason? Unknown. But it’s not like Canada needed to do that and why they believed they wouldn’t have been caught and have consequences subsequently rendered is beyond comprehension.

Fans of Morocco invade the pitch during the Men’s group B match between Argentina and Morocco during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on July 24, 2024 in Saint-Etienne, France.

Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

Fandom and flares
Mind you, the Canada incident occurred before the tournament even kicked off to a wild Wednesday that saw a stadium emptied after irate Moroccan fans stormed the pitch, reportedly threw flares and bottles directed at players from Argentina after a controversial goal in the 16th minute — yes, you read that correctly — of stoppage time.

Fans were already incensed that a VAR check added what might be the longest stoppage time addition in Olympic history, only to then to have Argentina’s Cristian Medina score a late goal in said stoppage.

Two hours later, after the stadium was cleared off all fans following the melee and interruption, officials took a VAR check of the second goal and discovered that Medina was offsides.

Morocco wins 2-1 — but sadly, not without a stain on the game.

Spectators wave Palestine flags during the Men’s Football Pool D match between Team Mali and Team Israel at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France

Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images

And then there was Israel vs. Mali
Later in the day, Israel took on Mali to constant boos from the stadium crowd upset over the ongoing situation between Israel and Palestine, a current conflict fueled by terrorism but propped up on political turmoil spanning multiple countries.

How bad was it?

How about the Israeli national team needing to be escorted to the stadium by a heavy police motorcade, and armed police and guards circling Parc des Princes stadium where the game was held. Then boos and jeers arrived as the team took the field — and this is all before a ball was even kicked in regulation.

Not to mention fans fighting both inside and outside the arena.

BREAKING:

People are trying to attack Israeli fans at the Paris Olympics.

Not enough free space has been made in the stands to stop attempts at attacking Israeli fans watching the football match between Israel and Mali pic.twitter.com/VHHrGu2zfb

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 24, 2024

Then, nearly every touch from the Israelis brought boos from the crowd in a game that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Turning off the games on Wednesday left a sour taste. The Olympics are probably the one tournament that supposed to be free of drama. OK, let me rephrase that. The soccer portion of the Summer Games are supposed to be drama-free.There are already scandals brewing in Olympic swimming, and these games aren’t historically remiss without some accusations of doping, poor sportsmanship and the, ahem, well-documented closed-door activities of Olympians.

Soccer at the Olympics is supposed to be at its purest. These aren’t even the top players on respective teams but those considered next up to represent their nations at the senior level. Here’s hoping Day 1 was merely a feeling out — as there’s no reason to mar an event and a competition that prides itself on showcasing the best of sports.