'They're not messing around': CFL pushing for players to get vaccinated with new COVID-19 policies
The Canadian Football League (CFL) announced new policies to encourage its players to get vaccinated, which include the possibility of forfeits and loss of pay if games are missed due to COVID-19.
The policy states if a game has to be cancelled and can't be rescheduled, the team with COVID-19 issues will be assigned a loss. If both clubs have COVID-19 issues, both will forfeit the game and be assigned a loss.
“Our goal is to ensure we have zero game cancellations due to issues caused by an outbreak of COVID-19 within our football operations,” Randy Ambrosie, Commissioner of the CFL, said in a news release.
“While this policy spells out what will happen if cancellations do occur, its main purpose is to encourage all of our players to get fully vaccinated in order to minimize the risk to our season and, most importantly, their health and safety.”
Players will receive their salary for the cancelled game if a team can prove that 85 percent of its players have been vaccinated at least once. If the club falls below that threshold, the entire team will not be paid.
Craig Dickenson, head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, said the team is not one of three in the league with an 85 per cent vaccination rate.
“We’re going to be there soon,” he said. “They’re not messing around.”
Dickenson added that the potential financial losses will likely spur more players to get the shot.
“I think you’ll see the teams that maybe aren’t there, they’ll get there relatively fast when players start to see that financially they could take a pretty big hit if we’re not at 85. I think you’re going to see a lot of guys get the shot,” he said.
“We’ve tried to be very open-minded and very understanding of those that maybe for some reason or another don’t want to get vaccinated, but we want to encourage them.”
Riders quarterback Cody Fajardo said he has already been vaccinated.
“I got it because I believe it’ll help me stay healthy and not miss games, and to put myself in a situation to play all 14 games this year,” Fajardo said. “It was a no-brainer for me, and I’m glad we’re just talking about CFL football again and not going through ‘are we going to play or not going to play?’”
The league administered approximately 6,000 COVID-19 tests to players, coaches and support staff from July 15 to the end of training camp on Friday. None of them came back positive.
The CFL season kicks off Thursday night, with the Roughriders’ home opener scheduled for Friday against the B.C. Lions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.