Edmonton’s mayor is clarifying a controversial decision made by city council to put a stop to all combative sporting events in the city.
On Friday, city council decided to stop green-lighting future combative sporting events for up to one year while a review into the regulatory body is done and recommendations considered. They voted unanimously to amend the Combative Sports Bylaw and the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission Bylaw.
“Alongside most of our colleagues around the province, through a resolution from the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, we’ve asked fairly overwhelmingly for the province to step in and regulate this the way every other province does,” Mayor Don Iveson said on Friday.
READ MORE: Edmonton puts moratorium on new combative sporting events ahead of review findings
On Friday, Iveson also said events that didn’t have licences processed by the end of the day wouldn’t proceed within the next year.
On Saturday, the mayor said events that were planned but didn’t have a licence could still go forward.
“Certainly, we’ve heard that the moratorium had an impact on some events that were pending, and I think we want to be sensitive to the fact there were some planned events and we may try to find a way to accommodate those events that were planned,” Iveson said.
“But we also didn’t want to create a run of last-minute applications by leaving this undealt with … telegraphing perhaps that we were going to get out of the business but leaving it undealt with until the new year.
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“On an exception basis council or the commission could grant licences, we could revisit this in the new year and once we see the report I think we’ll be in a better position to determine what if any role the city is prepared to have in combative sports in the future.”
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The city ordered a third-party review after Tim Hague died following a June 16 boxing match in Edmonton. The review was to include everyone involved, such as promoters, physicians, referees and inspectors. The results are scheduled to be delivered to council on Dec. 14.
Global News has learned Hague’s family is working with a lawyer and considering launching a wrongful death lawsuit.
In a news release Friday, the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission issued this statement:
“We respect the prerogative of Edmonton city council. We will continue our work as a commission, using this time to move forward with the comprehensive policy review that had already been underway. We will work with city administration to advise council on a future path at the end of the moratorium.”
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One of the events that was planned but didn’t yet have a licence was a boxing event set for March 23 where WBC/WIBF world featherweight champion Jelena Mrdjenovich was scheduled to fight.
KO boxing promoter Mel Lubovac said she’ll try to gain approval for the March 23 card as well as other KO Boxing fight cards that are already in the works.
On Dec. 13, a spokesperson for the WWE said an Edmonton event planned for Feb. 9 would not take place.
“Following new guidelines established by Edmonton’s city council, WWE’s event on Friday, Feb. 9 at Rogers Place has been postponed,” spokesman Matthew Altman said in an email to Global News. “We are working closely with the local commission and we hope to return with our sports entertainment events to Edmonton in the near future.”
He said that not yet gone on sale for the WWE event.
Iveson said the decision to have a one-year moratorium is about fighter’s safety.
“Questions have been raised about the commission’s ability to sanction and manage fights and safely provide for fighters and until those questions are put to rest with not only the public airing of the inquiry next week but also the implementations of the recommendations, council felt it appropriate to pause all of this work.”
In Alberta, combative sports are overseen by municipal commissions rather than a provincial commission. The Edmonton Combative Sports Commission oversees regulations, the conduct of contests, credentials for officials, as well as sanctions. However, provinces such as B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario all use provincial athletics commissions.
Mayor Iveson has made it clear he feels the province should regulate combative sports in Alberta.
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