Report: Canadian Football League preparing for players' strike

Saskatchewan Roughriders players celebrate after winning the Grey Cup. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn) The Canadian Football League Players

Saskatchewan Roughriders players celebrate after winning the Grey Cup. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

The Canadian Football League Players Association sent a letter to their players warning that a work stoppage league-wide is imminent, reports SportsNet.

The league's collective bargaining agreement expired at midnight, and labor talks have stalled between the CFL and the CFLPA.

Training camps are set to open Sunday. Players want a salary cap that will average $5.8 million this season, with three percent increases every season. The owners want a cap of $5.15 million annually.

The players also want an independent neurologist be present on the sidelines for each game and for padded practices to be limited to once a week.

“Please adhere to the terms of your contract, report and participate in training camp. After the votes are conducted in Alberta, we will then ALL serve strike notice and strike together,” a letter from union president Scott Flory stated.

“Whenever the action takes place we will be banding together and logistically we will find a solution for all of our members,” he wrote Thursday. “This may include leaning on the veterans, alumni and friends of the PA for billeting our players that do not have a place to stay or cannot afford a place of their own.”

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