Mayor Ford has ‘no comment’ on reports man with criminal past helped coach Don Bosco football team

ABOVE: Is Rob Ford still a ‘teflon mayor’? Sean Mallen reports. 

TORONTO – A man hired to help coach Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s former high school football team has a violent criminal past that was hidden from school officials, according to a report by the Globe and Mail.

The newspaper says Peter Payman, identified in game programs as a coach for Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School’s football team until the end of last season, also worked for Alexander Lisi.

Lisi, Ford’s friend and sometime driver, was arrested last week on drug charges and is reportedly at the centre of a top secret police investigation.

The Globe report says Payman concealed his real last name, which is Aboodowleh.

Administrators at the Toronto Catholic District School Board told the Globe it was given a false name for a police records check.

The newspaper says the 38-year-old has a history of violent crimes, including assaulting a peace officer and breaking and entering.

Aboodowleh, according to the Globe and Mail, said his criminal history posed no problems with the school board. He reportedly said they were “’bar-fight’-type incidents.”

The mayor refused to answer questions while arriving at city hall Wednesday. “No comment,” he told reporters outside of his office. It’s not clear how much the mayor knew about his associate’s past.

But his alleged ties to questionable individuals continue to overshadow his work at city hall.

On Tuesday, Ford shook his head and shouted “Subways, subways, subways” when asked if he was the subject of an alleged police investigation. Police would not confirm the investigation when asked by Global News.

WATCH: Mayor Rob Ford has no comment on latest allegations. Councillor Doug Ford sounds off on media

Even Ford’s council allies question whether the Mayor should reconsider his position amid a firestorm of allegations.

“I don’t believe it’s in the city’s best interests to have a mayor who is under police investigation. … That’s not the type of mayor that we need,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ford’s Chair of Public Works.

Councillor Shelley Carroll echoed those feelings and went one step further by saying Ford should step aside if he’s under a police investigation.

“Are the police, as the result of investigating Mr. Lisi … are they also investigating Mayor Ford?” Carroll asked during a scrum at city hall on Tuesday. “If so, then it’s time for the mayor to step down and take a leave of absence.”