Saint Mary’s players practicing for Loney Bowl
On Thursday, the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) office announced the conference football championship was cancelled, awarding Acadia University a defaulted victory. Friday morning, SMU said the Ontario Superior Court released a decision granting the school a interlocutory motion in the ongoing court proceedings between the school and U Sports. The court action was filed in Ontario because that’s where U Sports is based.
Associate vice president of external affairs at SMU, Margaret Murphy, said Hon. Justice Todd L. Archibald upheld the school’s binding agreement with U Sports.
“Therefore, any decisions about player eligibility, about the ability of our players to take the field, should not be in question and should never have been in question,” she told NEWS 95.7’s The Rick Howe Show in Halifax.
Murphy said SMU and U Sports reached an agreement on the matter on October 27th, and they have it in writing. Graham Brown, president and CEO of U Sports said that only dealt with an anonymous complaint. She’s calling AUS to “do the right thing” and reinstate Saturday’s playoff game.
At a news conference on Friday afternoon, U Sports said it has no authority over AUS and it has no say in whether the football game goes ahead.
“Although we collaborate and work hand in hand very closely, [we are] two distinct organizations of which we have no direct jurisdiction over league play or competition play in the conference,” said president and CEO Graham Brown. “The AUS now have to handle the situation, we support the direction, we support their approach and we would support any outcome that they deem acceptable, it will be acceptable and supported by U Sports.”
So now what?
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