The South Korean Football Association reported on Wednesday that Mexican authorities shot down an unauthorized drone that flew over their national team's closed-door training session in preparation for Thursday's match against Mexico.
A spokesperson for the Association told media outlets in their country that the drone was identified by the team's security team and that the National Guard and Army agents protecting the Verde Valle sports center in Guadalajara, the team's training ground, were immediately informed.
The Special Anti-Drone Group squadron identified the drone and shot it down using electronic jamming and transfer systems, because it was flying over a prohibited area.
The device fell outside the training center and when the officials and representatives of the federation went to look for it, it was no longer there, so it is presumed that the same pilots - whose nationality has not been specified - were the ones who recovered the drone.
“Before the national team arrived, two foreign men suspected of being the operators fled with the drone,” the federation said.
The spokesperson stated that "there was no impact on the exposure" of the team's tactical practices that would compromise confidentiality, because the flight occurred during the players' warm-up phase.
He also explained that it is still unknown whether the drone flight was due to espionage by a media outlet, a rival team, or fans, although the incident has already been reported to FIFA and a police investigation has been requested.
Because the training center has security cameras around the entire perimeter, the physical appearance of the two pilots flying the drone was captured, and it is expected that the police will identify them in the coming hours.
The Asian team's training session concluded normally and without further incident.