Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Financial Problems Move Closer To Sidelining Cfl

Associated Press

The Canadian Football League could be playing its last few weeks of games, according to league chairman John Tory.

“There’s no point about being unrealistic about this in public anymore,” Tory told the Toronto Globe and Mail in today’s editions. “We are extremely close to folding.

“We have very serious financial problems. The financial situation is as acute as I’ve seen it in my five years as chairman of this league.”

Tory said none of the nine teams in the league will make a profit this season, largely because the league has been forced to keep the Ottawa Rough Riders and British Columbia Lions alive, and provide some assistance for the Montreal Alouettes.

Players Association president Dan Ferrone said the players have contributed almost $4 million to the league from 1993-95 and “we want to help.”

“They know where they stand now,” Ferrone said. “I don’t sugar-coat anything to them. Deciding how, when and where to make contributions are the problems we’re having.”