Clanachan: League Would Stand With Players Who Choose To Boycott

Canadian Premier League commissioner David Clanachan joined Tristan D’Amours on IMFC Radio today, with the conversation leading to the massive player boycotts which have seen NBA, MLS, and MLB games postponed as professional athletes protest racial injustice in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting.

The commissioner stated that the league would stand with players who choose not to play in games from The Island Games tournament in protest of racial injustice, with Clanachan disclosing that he had been on a conference call with several CPL athletes prior to his radio interview.

The Canadian Premier League has used its voice to support the Black Lives Matter movement, which has featured prominently in all of the Charlottetown-based tournament’s broadcasts.

Thus far it has stood by its ‘we are many, we are one’ mantra of inclusivity, which also extends to the LGBQT community – though the length of time it took for the CSA to resolve an allegation of racial misconduct from 2019 has left some fans and players irked.

The league has also stalled in recognizing a player’s union, which is still hoping for official recognition in the midst of the pandemic.

This week, Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah also made passionate speech about supporting black lives, with York9 FC releasing a roundtable discussion featuring its athletes of colour discussing their own experiences with racism.

In Northern Tribune’s talks with a handful of athletes based in the tournament, the expectation is that the shortened tournament won’t see any postponed matches, with Atletico Ottawa still scheduled to take on Cavalry FC in a matter of hours.

Should that change, however, it appears the league will fully support any athletes who opt not to take the pitch as a form of protest. South of the border, Major League Soccer saw all but one if its matches get postponed yesterday, with Canadian international Mark-Anthony Kaye using his voice as a professional athlete to reach out to fans around the globe:

“We’re using our power, our voice by saying we’re not going to play. What’s going on in the world is not acceptable.” – @MarkThEwizz#JusticeForJacobBlake #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/mVbH9trWdv

— LAFC (@LAFC) August 27, 2020

This afternoon, several Canadian Premier League players unilaterally put out a statement about racial injustice, too:

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A post shared by Morey Doner (@moreydoner3) on Aug 27, 2020 at 10:02am PDT

This post will be updated should player boycotts impact the Canadian Premier League bubble tournament.

Northern Tribune stands with any player who opts to protest by way of not playing, kneeling during an anthem, or any form of peaceful protest in general.

Source: Tristan D’Amours (via Twitter)