By Canadian Press

July start at the earliest

CFL postpones start of regular season due to COVID-19 pandemic

Apr 7, 2020 | 8:53 AM

TORONTO — The CFL is postponing the start of its 2020 season until the beginning of July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced the postponement in a release Tuesday, noting that some CFL cities have indicated they won’t allow sporting events through the end of June.

Ambrosie said the league will try to play a full season, though significant changes will have to be made with the 2020 campaign scheduled to finish with the Grey Cup game Nov. 22 in Regina.

“While it is now clear that the 2020 CFL season won’t start before the beginning of July, we are committed to working with our teams, the Players’ Association, TSN and RDS to play a full season or as close as we can come to one,” Ambrosie said. “We recognize this may require some creativity and we are preparing for multiple scenarios.”

The CFL season was scheduled to start June 11, but the city of Calgary has a public events ban in place until June 30 that includes NHL and CFL games.

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Toronto also has a ban on city-led events through June 30, but it does not prohibit professional sporting events.

The CFL had already postponed the start of its pre-season. Rookie camps were scheduled to open May 13 with training camps starting four days later.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2020.

The Canadian Press