Frustration grows among CFL players

The already fractured relationship between the CFL and CFL Players’ Association isn’t getting any better. On Tuesday, the union stated it still hasn’t heard from the CFL regarding its plans for an abbreviated 2020 season. Executive director Brian Ramsay tweeted Thursday the CFLPA hadn’t received “concrete ideas regarding a 2020 collective agreement from the CFL, as was promised, nor concrete direction about opportunities for a 2020 season.”

Five days later, the union says it continues to wait.

“We are awaiting a ‘guiding principles’ statement as well as its implications from the CFL,” the union said in a letter issued to its membership. “We are also preparing to return to collective bargaining negotiations (commonly called CBA negotiations) with the CFL soon.

“Early on in this pandemic, we identified modifications that could be made to the current collective agreement that would help make way to allow for game play in 2020. At the time, the CFL was unwilling to discuss any changes. We now anticipate an initial proposal, from them, in the coming days.”

Ambrosie announced last month the earliest the league would begin an abbreviated

’20 season would be September. But he also stated a cancelled campaign remains possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ramsay’s tweet, as well as those by numerous other CFL players, came more than a month after Ambrosie was criticized by several Members of Parliament for not including the players in the league’s request for financial assistance from the federal government.

At a time when the NBA, Major League Soccer and NHL have all announced plans to return, the CFL remains in limbo for 2020. And approaching a week after the ’20 season was scheduled to open (last Thursday night), players and fans alike still have no idea when, or if, professional football will return in Canada.