Loney Bowl cancelled, Acadia advances
TORONTO — The Canadian university football playoff picture remained a seven-team affair Friday, as the head of U Sports said there were no plans to play this weekend’s Loney Bowl championship game.
A day earlier, Atlantic University Sport — the governing body for university athletics in Atlantic Canada — cancelled the national quarter-final between Acadia and Saint Mary’s due to a player eligibility issue and awarded the regional title to the Axemen.
“The AUS made the decision it believes to be the best to protect the integrity and fairness of its football season,” U Sports president and CEO Graham Brown said Friday in a statement. “U Sports respects this decision and understands it. We also wish to acknowledge all of the players, coaches and programs that competed fairly all season long.
“To those competitors who played fairly, and the universities and fans who support them, we know this is an unfortunate ending.”
The Axemen were scheduled to host the Huskies on Saturday at Raymond Field in Wolfville, N.S. But the AUS declared that Acadia, as the first-place team during the regular season, will represent the Atlantic conference in the Nov. 18 Uteck Bowl.
Brown did not reveal the name of the player and said he could not comment on case specifics since the matter was before the courts.
He noted that Saint Mary’s was awarded a temporary injunction Friday morning by an Ontario judge, adding he expected to return to court next week to fight a permanent injunction.
“The decision on whether the player is ineligible or not is essentially the basis of the injunction,” Brown said on a conference call. “So we have been unable to move forward with our internal processes to determine the eligibility of the player in question because Saint Mary’s have in fact proceeded with legal action, which have taken away that ability to assess the eligibility.
“The whole crux of this is that we are unable to govern this situation because the courts have supported an injunction on this particular matter.”
Voice mail requests for phone interviews with officials from Saint Mary’s and the AUS were not immediately returned. However, Margaret Murphy, SMU’s associate vice-president of external affairs, issued a statement Friday morning.
“The Hon. Justice Todd L. Archibald of the Ontario Superior Court has released his decision and granted Saint Mary’s interlocutory motion against U Sports,” Murphy said. “It is our position that the Loney Bowl should be played this weekend to decide the AUS conference champion properly, through a game of football.”
Brown said U Sports was first advised of a potential player issue on Oct. 23 by an anonymous phone call. U Sports sent a memo to SMU the next day and received a reply with the school’s interpretation, via a law firm, on Oct. 26, he said.
Brown stressed that while U Sports did not have plans to pursue the matter, that did not affect the possibility that one of its members may come forward. In this case, Brown said, the four other football schools within AUS brought forth a formal complaint in early November.
“Saint Mary’s position is that by us choosing not to pursue it, it quashed the entire investigation,” Brown said. “This is what we’re in court trying to explain to a judge.”
In an email, AUS executive director Phil Currie declined comment on Friday’s developments “due to legal processes taking place.”
While U Sports is the national brand, AUS has jurisdiction on its championship game.
Saint Mary’s finished in second place in the AUS standings with a 5-3 record, just behind Acadia at 6-2. Saint Mary’s had to forfeit one victory over St.FX due to use of ineligible players.