Riders did right thing by sitting out Hughes

Disapproving words weren’t going to suffice.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders needed to back up their stern statements with a commensurate response.

And so they did on Friday, when the CFL team announced that defensive end Charleston Hughes — who has been charged with impaired driving and refusing to provide a breath sample for analysis — would not play in Saturday’s road game against the Calgary Stampeders.

The Roughriders also imposed the maximum allowable disciplinary fine, per the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement.

Good for them. Despite some equivocation, they ultimately did the right thing — avoiding an over-the-top sanction against a high-profile player while still making an emphatic statement by virtue of their disciplinary measures.

Granted, the action was taken in advance of Hughes’ Oct. 31 court appearance, but something had to be done — and be seen to be done — in light of the sentiments that were already expressed.

“Charleston is human and he made a huge mistake,” Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones told the media Wednesday, one day after the matter came to light publicly. “We certainly don’t condone it and we take the offence very seriously.”

We certainly don’t condone it and we take the offence very seriously.

Such a statement left the Roughriders with no choice but to act as they did leading up to Friday’s announcement.

As Jones put it, Hughes made a “huge mistake” and the Roughriders “don’t condone it.”

If there was any doubt, it was removed when Hughes was removed from the active roster.