Honduras manager claims Australia's alleged use of drone was 'espionage'

A drone hovering over Honduras' training session Monday was deployed by the Australian national team in an attempt to spy on its opponent, according to the Central American nation's manager, Jorge Luis Pinto.

On Monday, the Honduras Twitter account posted a video of a drone hovering above the Stadium Australia. The national team immediately came to the conclusion that a delegate from the Australian team was piloting the drone.

Pinto echoed those sentiments when speaking with the media, as translated by the Associated Press, saying: "Let’s not be innocent. It’s espionage in football. Just like VAR (Video Assistant Referee) has made it into football, drones have made their way into espionage.

"It just takes some of the merit away from the fair play and the sporting event that will be held tomorrow."

Pinto added that it was “embarrassing for such an advanced country” to employ such tactics.

The two nations played out a goalless stalemate in the first leg of last week's World Cup play-off in San Pedro, where Pinto accused the Australian side of snooping around their hotel.

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou responded to the latest accusations by insisting that no member of the Socceroos was responsible for piloting the drone.

"There was a fair bit of drama around the first game, but we stayed well out of it," Postecoglou said. "Ultimately, it’s all pretty irrelevant when the game kicks off tomorrow night. It’s all about those 90 minutes and anything said beforehand is meaningless."