By Canadian Press

CFL, LFA sign letter of intent to grow football in Canada and Mexico

Nov 23, 2018 | 3:55 PM

EDMONTON — Brian Ramsay and Jeff Keeping were not amused.

On Friday, the CFL and Mexico’s Liga de Futbol Americano Professional signed a letter of intent to work together on several projects. That includes playing a future CFL game in Mexico City.

But the agreement also reportedly contains a “promise” that each CFL team will carry one player from Mexico on its roster starting next year. And that was news to Keeping, the CFL Players’ Association president, and Ramsy, the union’s executive director, who both learned about it for the first time during the CFLPA’s state of the union address Friday.

“We’ve had some discussions about the growth model,” Ramsay said. “But, no, we’ve not had discussions on the floor in that detail.

“That’s not to say the players aren’t for a growth model. The players are very much alive to the fact there needs to be sustainability for everyone’s employment. However there are many, as we head into bargaining, unaddressed concerns that remain outstanding.”

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One example Ramsay provided was the proper rehabilitation of long-term injuries. It’s an important matter to the union as the CFL’s current policy obligates teams to care for an injured player up to a year.

If a player — like former defensive Jonathan Hefney, for example — requires additional medical care, he must cover the cost. Hefney, 33, suffered career-ending neck and upper-body injuries during a game in 2015 while with the Montreal Alouettes.

Hefney’s first surgery — which reportedly cost $88,000  — was covered by insurance and the Als. But his benefits expired after a year and Hefney still requires care and additional surgery.

“That (longer-term injury care) shouldn’t be bargained and we’ve been firm in that position,” Ramsay said. “It shouldn’t be bargained for an injury suffered in the workplace.

“That’s an issue that’s not going to go away because our players who are taking to the field for Grey Cup on Sunday are the ones taking that risk.”

The Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders will meet in the Grey Cup game, which will be broadcast in Mexico in Spanish for the first time.

“We’re really going to use this to kick off what we hope is a long-term, fantastic relationship that helps us grow the game of football,” CFL commissioner Ambrosie said during his state of the union address. “I think (Mexican partnership) is the beginning of a new beginning for us.”

But the partnership comes at curious time for the CFL.

Teams in Toronto and Montreal both have attendance issues and there’s uncertainty in Vancouver whether owner David Braley will sell the B.C. Lions.

And there’s also the matter of yet unscheduled talks with the CFL Players’ Association this off-season on a new collective bargaining agreement with the current deal expiring next May.

But Ramsy said the union has yet to hear from the league about starting talks. And the mood heading into negotiations isn’t exactly positive, given the CFLPA feels it wasn’t kept in the loop regarding the Mexican partnership as well as the league’s directive instructing team not to pay players signing bonuses this off-season until a new CBA is ratified.

“We believe it (disallowing bonuses) isn’t starting off on the right foot for sure,” Ramsay said.

Added Keeping: “We believe it (CFL’s player bonus policy) is very shortsighted. We certainly hope it doesn’t backfire on them.”

But Ambrosie believes the CFL can address its domestic concerns while growing.

“I feel the future for football in Canada is bright but I also recognize there are challenges that have to be addressed,” he said. “I think we can do both and we should do both.

“We should have our eyes on the horizon, we should be looking forward and looking out into the future and planning for the bigger, stronger CFL that we’ve been talking about for the past 16 months.”

There was talk the CFL could play a game in Mexico City next year. But a league official said due to logistics, it’s more likely that happens in 2020.

The LFA is an eight-team Mexican semi-pro American spring football circuit. The letter of intent is not a binding contract between the two leagues but it does pave the way for a CFL scouting combine in Mexico this winter, increase co-operation and sharing of resources.

Ambrosie, Perez and Jaimes officially signed the letter following Ambrosie’s gathering.

Next season, Montreal will reduce seating at Molson Stadium from just over 23,000 to 20,000 but Ambrosie said that’s a standard business practice.

“The issue of contracting the size of the stadium is just a tactical decision,” he said. “It’s like an inventory management issue that businesses will do to reduce the amount of supply they have available to make the supply they have more valuable to.

“But there’s no doubt there are challenges there. Somehow we’ve lost that connection with Alouettes football and we have to find a way to get it back.”

Ambrosie called the upcoming CBA talks, “the great unknown.” But he remains very confident the two sides can agree on a new deal.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that I think the future is better together,” Ambrosie said. “I’m optimistic.

“I think we can sit down with the players shortly after the season and lay out a path to put in place a deal that’s fair for both sides.”

Ambrosie said ongoing dialogue must also take place regarding developing Canadian quarterbacks, the league’s ratio, long-term care for players and adopting a one-division format. But Ambrosie feels the letter of intent with the LFA could provide opportunities for Canadian-born quarterbacks to further hone their skills in Mexico then head to the CFL.

Ambrosie also said there’s a “move is afoot,” for the CFL to hold Grey Cup a week earlier by 2020.

“In our requests for 2020 Grey Cup bids we’ve asked the teams to bid one week earlier,” Ambrosie said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

Earlier this month the NHL and a group of retired players reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought against the league over head injuries. In 2017, the NFL and a group of former players agreed to a US$1 billion settlement.

The CFL is currently facing a $200-million class-action suit filed by a group of retired players but Ambrosie said the two sides are talking.

“In the case of the NFL and NHL that process took time to reach the outcome that they’ve achieved,” Ambrosie said. “We’d like similarly to reach a successful conclusion with the plaintiffs on this matter.

“This has got to be an item that gets talked about as soon as we hit the ground Monday morning.”

Ambrosie said the decisions last year to eliminate padded practises and extend the regular season to 21 weeks have had the desired affect. He added in-practice injuries and game-days lost to injury have declined 35 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press