Canadian Football League introduces drug testing interesting case study for the NFL
The Canadian Football League and the CFL Player's Association have ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement that will introduce a tough drug-testing policy to the league, increase salaries and change the way the National Football League can approach their players.
From now on 25 per cent of players will be test in the 2011 season, with that number jumping up to 35 per cent for 2012 and 2013.
In some respects the new testing policy may serve as an interesting case study for the NFL. As the largest football league in the world, the NFL currently uses blood tests pre-season to test for cholesterol and tryglycerates levels, but does not test for Human Growth Hormone. The CFL will begin testing for HGH as well with blood, and the NFL, which has tried to push for HGH blood-testing in the past, may be able to use them as an example. Ostensibly the problem with the introduction of HGH testing has been over the method of drawing blood, with the NFLPA resisting any kind of testing that would go beyond a finger pin-prick.
Unlike the NFL Players' Association, which had resisted such a move, the CFLPA seemed to welcome it.
"We've taken the approach that this is something that's good for our players," CFLPA president Stu Laird said. "We take this very seriously and think this is a good move for our players and that's why you see policy the way it has resulted."
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport will be the ones conducting the tests. The CCES, it was said by Michael Copeland, the CFL's chief executive officer, played a major advisory role in shaping the new policy.
"This policy does the right things in the right order," said Copeland. "It focuses first on education and as the experts, including CCES, have advised us education is the best deterrent. These policies are very strong and very serious."
NFL can no longer approach CFL players
As the CFL occasionally serves as a kind of minor league for the NFL, with some players having the chance to leave Canada to achieve moderate success in the NFL, they've long had a clause in their contracts allowing CFL players in their option years to negotiate with NFL teams as well. This new CBA though forbids this, meaning any CFL player will now have to wait until the end of his contract to gain entry into the NFL.
A consolation will be the raising of the salary cap to $4.4 million per team by the end of 2013, and the increase of contribution towards player pensions. Unlike the NFL, CFL players do not earn large salaries, though as part of this CBA the new league minimum salary will be $45,000 per year, up from $41,000.
At the same time the Canadian content rules were left unchanged, with mandate that 20 players on each teach must Canadian, with 19 Americans, and with the quarterbacks being exempt from the rule.
The CFL looks to ramp-up
After a tumultuous 1990s, with a failure to expand to the U.S, and a difficult early part of the 2000s, with several clubs going into bankruptcy, the CFL has emerged stronger in the past few years, with new attendance highs and several exciting Grey Cup finishes. The Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes are all renovating their stadiums for 2010, with the rest of the league's teams looking to do so in following year.
Mark Cohon, the CFL's commissioner, spoke of the potential moving forward.
"It recognizes the contribution of our players, underscores the importance of Canadians to our game . . . and it introduces for the first time a drug-testing policy that targets performance-enhancing drugs that will truly ensure the integrity of the game and play on the field," he said. "The ratification of this agreement is great news for our league, our players and ultimately our fans because we kick off on Canada Day.
"We're excited to be out in the stadiums and see football played once again."
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