Fougere open to discussions about Regina being hub city for 2020 CFL season

Regina’s mayor is open to the idea of having a discussion about the Queen City being a CFL hub city if the 2020 season gets the green light.

While league commissioner Randy Ambrosie has said the most-likely scenario is a cancelled season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a final decision hasn’t been made yet.

TSN’s Farhan Lalji tweeted Thursday that discussions indicate the league and the CFL Players’ Association want to play in 2020 and the idea of having two hub cities (one in the west and one in the east) has been floated.

The hot button topic of players being able to access gov’t bailout funds becomes an issue if there is no 2020 season. Talking to people on both sides, the #CFLPA & @cfl are focused on playing this season. The idea of 2 hub cities (east & west) has been discussed. @CFLonTSN

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) May 14, 2020

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said there hasn’t been a formal proposal made, but the city has had “very, very preliminary” discussions around the idea of hosting the games.

“I think anything is possible. I think Regina in the outset is situated very well for this. We’re right in the middle of the continent, right in the middle of Western Canada, easy to get to and (we have) that beautiful stadium,” Fougere said.

“I think we have all the makings of making this happen, as with any other team in the CFL. But I think Regina with its new stadium and its geographic location would be well set to do this.”

Fougere said a lot needs to be done to determine if the idea is feasible.

“One of them is when you bring in players from the United States in particular, they’ve got to be isolated for 14 days (under public health orders). There’s a lot of safety issues to be done (and) there’s a financial implication for it as well,” Fougere said.

Fougere said the City of Regina and Evraz Place haven’t had conversations with the CFL or anyone else regarding the idea as of now.

“It’s simply an interesting concept,” Fougere said. “Let’s have that conversation and see where it goes.”

During the Government of Saskatchewan’s daily update Thursday, Dr. Saqib Shahab said he hasn’t personally looked into the idea of having football events played in the province.

“We know that there’s interest in many settings to have sports start in a way where there may not be spectators but they may be televised,” said Shahab, the province’s chief medical health officer.

Shahab said players have to behave differently in countries that have opened up to sporting events, which includes social distancing in hotels. Shahab said there is a lot of close contact that happens during sports, which can put the players at risk.

“Some time in the future, that could be something that may be done in a way that (there would only be some risk) to the players and maybe of some value in terms of entertainment and economic activity,” Shahab said.

Premier Scott Moe acknowledged there are multiple leagues looking at how they can salvage the season including the NBA, NHL and National Lacrosse League.

“I’ve not been in discussion with the CFL on any proposal that would be there to salvage a portion of this season,” Moe said.

“If that was to be under consideration, there would be collaborative work done between the league, the teams, the community, the province and the chief medical health officers, likely at the provincial and national level to ensure the safety of the players in limiting their risk of exposure to the virus and many parameters around those who may have to be in the stadium.”