Hockey Canada said Wednesday that four of the five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior team who were acquitted last year of sexual assault will remain suspended following an independent appeal process.
The appeal board ruled that all five players breached Hockey Canada’s code of conduct. However, one of those players, Alex Formenton, will be reinstated “immediately” and be allowed to participate in Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs, the organization said in a statement.
It said Cal Foote will remain suspended until Nov. 10 of this year, Carter Hart until that same date in 2027, and Dillon Dube until Nov. 10, 2028.
Michael McLeod will face the longest suspension, lasting until Nov. 10, 2030.
Hockey Canada did not provide explanations behind the individual suspension decisions in its statement.
“As the appeal board’s decision brings this matter to a close, Hockey Canada thanks the investigator, all members of the independent adjudicative panel and independent appeal board for their commitment to maintaining the integrity of the investigative and adjudicative processes and the significant amount of time they devoted to this matter,” the statement said.
Hockey Canada added that no other members of the 2018 world juniors team were found to have breached the code of conduct, and are therefore eligible for sanctioned hockey programs and tournaments like the Winter Olympic Games.
“However, any player under consideration to play on a national team will be subject to Hockey Canada’s enhanced screening process, which will continue to include a third-party review of the findings regarding the 2018 National Junior Team before being eligible to represent Canada internationally,” the organization said.
All five players were cleared to return to the NHL last year after their league suspensions were lifted following their acquittal by an Ontario Superior Court judge.
Formenton currently plays in the Swiss National League, which he was playing for when he, Foote, Hart, Dube and McLeod were each charged in 2024 with one count of sexual assault over an alleged 2018 incident in a London, Ont., hotel room following their team’s gold medal win in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
The other four were playing for NHL teams at the time they were charged, but were suspended or had their contracts expire following the indictment. All five pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations against them.
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Hart has since returned to the NHL as a goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights, while Dube signed a one-year contract as a forward for the St. Louis Blues in July.
Foote was drafted by the Swedish Hockey League team Färjestad BK late last month. However, the team quickly rescinded its contract, saying in a statement that it heard “concerns, disappointment and questions about our decision to sign the player” from the public as well as team stakeholders.
McLeod currently plays for a Russian team in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Trial heard allegations of sexual assault by players
During the eight-week trial last year, the court heard the team was in London for events marking its gold-medal performance at that year’s championship, and that the then-20-year-old female complainant — identified as E.M. — was out with friends when they met at a downtown bar on June 18, 2018.
After being with McLeod and his teammates at the bar, E.M. would go on to have consensual sex with McLeod in his hotel room in the early morning hours of June 19. Court heard that E.M., who testified she was drunk and not of clear mind, was in the washroom after she had sex with McLeod and came out to a group of men in the room allegedly invited by McLeod in a group chat.
It was then that the Crown had alleged several sexual acts took place without E.M.’s consent. The judge later ruled the Crown did not meet the burden of proof in the case, and acquitted the players.
The Crown has argued during trial that Formenton did not take any steps to confirm whether the woman consented before having sex with her in the hotel room’s bathroom. His lawyer argued the evidence overwhelmingly established that the woman consented to sex with his client.
McLeod, Hart and Dube had each been accused of obtaining oral sex during the alleged group encounter without receiving explicit consent, and their lawyers argued throughout the process that the sex was consensual.
Prosecutors alleged Foote did the splits over the complainant at the urging of his teammates and grazed his genitals on her face without her consent. Foote’s defence lawyer argued her client didn’t touch the complainant at all, and said during trial that the Crown failed to prove the alleged interaction “occurred in a sexual context.”
Defence lawyers suggested E.M. wasn’t as drunk as she has testified she was, wanted a “wild night” with the players and was “egging” them on to have sex with her, and accused her of having a “clear agenda” at the trial.
E.M. pushed back against those claims and at points outright rejected them, saying she was coaxed into staying in the room and was disrespected and taken advantage of by the group, who she said “could see I was out of my mind.”
Only Hart would testify at the trial, while the other players’ lawyers cited evidence and police interviews that were already played in court as part of the reasons why their clients were opting not to testify.
During closing submissions, defence lawyers called the trial “historic” and repeatedly attacked E.M.’s credibility, saying she “created a lie” out of regret and embarrassment, and that throughout the night, her “communication of consent is overwhelming.”
Meanwhile, the Crown urged the judge to convict the men, arguing the men were “reckless” for engaging in group sex with E.M. and not seeking her affirmative consent.
“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear. I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable,” Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said while delivering her decision on July 24, 2025.
“With respect to the charges before this court, having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial on the whole, I conclude the Crown can not meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”
Crown prosecutors declined to appeal Carroccia’s ruling.
—With files from Global’s Aaron D’Andrea and Sean O’Shea, and the Canadian Press
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