August 29, 2003 CPSL news from CPSL website
NEWS
THE GAMES ARE ON
OTTAWA—Friday, August 29--The games will go on.
That was the decision handed down when The Honourable Mr. Justice de Lobe Panet at the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa today dismissed the injunction outright following a bid by the Ottawa Wizards to prevent the Open Canada Cup from being played.
The Wizards had sought an injunction to put a stop to the remainder of the competition scheduled to be completed in London this weekend, starting with a wild card game between London City and Durham Flames at 8.30 pm.
The Canadian Professional Soccer League contested the application was represented in court by Stan Adamson, the league administrator and Cary Kaplan, the CPSL’s management consultant.
The Wizards were taken out of the Open Canada Cup following the third round after failing to confirm they would participate following threats to not play the games as scheduled.
The club was earlier critical of the CPSL’s competition format, the financial requirements for hosting the games and the lack of opportunity for input by the Wizards.
In fact Justice Panet found at the conclusion of the 4-hour hearing the Wizards had been invited to give input, but failed to take part at a scheduled meeting. They had not accepted the terms to host the finals and failed to agree to the structure of the competition.
The league explained to the court that to agree to the demands of Ottawa Wizards they would have to be considered somewhat autonomous without regard for the needs of the remaining 12 teams.
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