Report critical of city’s handling of combat sports
Third-party review following fighter’s death makes 18 recommendations
A detailed review into the death of fighter Tim Hague paints a dismal picture of combative sport regulation, not just in Edmonton, but in Lethbridge, too.
Lethbridge failed to share medical details from a match in April. But Edmonton’s record-keeping was so bad, officials didn’t record whether their own sanctioned fight seven months earlier resulted in the type of head trauma that could have kept Hague from the ring for that fateful June 16 heavyweight boxing match against Adam Braidwood.
Hague died in hospital two days later. A third-party review into the details surrounding his death was issued Thursday.
“Head injury is such an unknown thing right now … You just don’t know the damage that’s done,” said Hague’s close friend and fellow fighter, Victor Valimaki.
But the 18 recommendations released Thursday are nothing new, he said. They call for handing responsibility to the province if possible, clarifying policy relating to fighter safety, ensuring policy is followed, keeping records and improving oversight by city council.
“It’s basically just recommending what we already know,” Valimaki said. “When it came to Tim Hague, should he have been suspended or not suspended? … As a personal friend of his, he probably shouldn’t have fought. But I also knew Tim. He was adamant to fight. He would beg for the fight.”
Edmonton’s combative sports commission was formed in 1920. The commission reviewed its policies on fighter safety in 2013 but, according to the review by the third-party firm MNP, the commission never confirmed these policies were being followed in four years.
MNP also criticize the commission for failing to provide ringside doctors with a boxer’s recent fight history, which leaves them few tools to judge the cumulative impact of successive head trauma. The recommendations include:
Keep records on whether a promoter’s licence is approved or denied.
Maintain files for each contestant with their fight and suspension history.
Ensure ringside doctors are imposing the minimum medical suspensions as required by policy.
Ensure medical suspensions are the same for mixed martial arts and boxing events.
Require ringside doctors to impose indefinite medical suspensions for all head injuries, whether the injured party wins or loses. Fighters shouldn’t be cleared until they provide medical evidence they have not sustained brain trauma.
Hold the executive director accountable for sharing all results and suspensions through official sport websites.
License matchmakers and require them to sign off, acknowledging they have reviewed the medical history of each contestant.
Create a confidential tip line to an independent third-party to allow anyone concerned to red flag an upcoming fight.
Require the commission to report annually to city council on how policy is being followed.
Work with provincial and municipal counterparts to create a provincewide commission.
Last week, Edmonton council put a moratorium on all professional combative sports for up to one year. This report will go to a council committee meeting Jan. 17 to allow the combative sports community and members of the public to weigh in.
Mayor Don Iveson said council will not contemplate any exemptions to the moratorium until after that committee meeting.
“We take the recommendations of this report very seriously, especially the strong call for a provincial combative sports commission,” he said in a statement Thursday. “Safety is our No. 1 priority and will remain at the heart of any decision we make.”
Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda said his office will look into the issue, but made no promises.
“To date, there is no consensus amongst the municipalities on the best approach when it comes to regulating these sports in Alberta,” he said in a written statement.
Deputy city manager Rob Smyth spoke to the report Thursday, but refused to get into details. He was asked why municipalities in Alberta hadn’t harmonized reporting on medical suspensions and fighters’ injuries years earlier.
“I’d rather not comment on that,” Smyth said. “There’s likely legal implications.”
Head injury is such an unknown thing right now … You just don’t know the damage that’s done.