St. Francis Xavier (STFX) University in Antigonish, N.S. is weighing in on the decision to reinstate the 2017 Loney Bowl.
STFX is a member of Atlantic University Sport conference (AUS), which originally cancelled the Loney Bowl football championship last week.
In a statement released Monday from STFX’s director of athletics and recreation, Leo MacPherson, says “St. Francis Xavier University believes in academic excellence and the integrity of university athletics. Unfortunately, over the past couple of weeks, integrity for student-athlete eligibility rules have taken centre stage.”
The statement goes on to say that “beyond obvious ethical and educational considerations, St. Francis Xavier University contends that without integrity in university sport, there can be no fair play and competition.”
READ: Halifax school in court to contest AUS decision to cancel football’s Loney Bowl
Sunday evening, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted Saint Mary’s University (SMU) a temporary injunction and ruled the Loney Bowl will take place. The decision came days after SMU was disqualified by the AUS over concerns about the eligibility of Archelaus Jack, a wide receiver for the Huskies.
Jack was previously on the practice roster for the Saskatchewan Roughriders but is now a student at Saint Mary’s.
SMU says they have a binding agreement with U Sports, which governs university sport in Canada, that allows Jack to play.
However, MacPherson says while the court of law decided to reinstate the Loney Bowl, it did not address the issue of student-athlete ineligibility.
“What remains to be determined is whether Saint Mary’s University, a fellow member of the AUS football conference, broke the rules and fielded an ineligible student-athlete, a position unanimously supported by all other AUS football conference members,” he said.
WATCH: Loney Bowl now scheduled to take place Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Acadia University
Meanwhile, both the SMU Huskies and the Acadia Axemen are scheduled to take the field Monday afternoon and practice ahead of Tuesday’s championship game at Acadia in Wolfville, N.S.
With the ruling coming down Sunday evening, it gives Acadia less than 48 hours to get everything in order for the game.
“Preparations for tomorrow’s AUS Loney Bowl are now underway,” said Phil Currie, executive director of AUS.
READ: Nova Scotia judge rules that cancelled Loney Bowl should proceed
“We have the utmost faith in their ability to meet the challenges of this tight turnaround time. While the situation is not ideal, our conference office and host school are in the business of running high-calibre events, and we have every intention of doing just that for our student-athletes and fans tomorrow at Acadia.”
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