Football Canada Sends Letter Of Concern To CFL Over Potential XFL/CFL Rule Changes

One of the main topics fans and the media discuss when it comes to an XFL/CFL partnership or merger is the rules. What would stay, what will go, how can they work together.

The question of rules is heavily on the mind of people like Jim Mullins, president of Football Canada. Football Canada is the body that looks over Amateur Football in Canada. Any changes to the CFL rules could significantly impact how Amateur Football is played in Canada.

Many high schools and universities in Canada play Canadian rules football. In the US, any of the rule changes brought by the XFL had no impact on how high school or college football is played.

The NFL, NCAA, and high schools could adopt some of the XFL rules like kick-off, sky judge, and others down the road. For now, the XFL can tweak whatever rule they want, and it only impacts the XFL.

That is not the case for the CFL and Amateur Football in Canada. This is why CFL fans are so concerned over the rules beyond a personal preference.

Concerned about a potential change, Football Canada sent a letter to the CFL and its Commissioner Randy Ambrosie.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the letter. Here is part of the letter.

“In our view, maintaining the essential components of the Canadian rules in terms of field dimensions and player complement would allow for amateur football to continue without redevelopment of infrastructure, which is costly in terms of all resource metrics,” the organizations said in their policy letter. “

“The CFL plays an essential role in long-term athletic development and football infrastructure in Canada. However, the potential of dramatic changes to the Canadian game at the professional level could damage the stability of many aspects and operations of the sport.

We would appreciate an ongoing dialogue to clarify the impact of proposed changes at the professional level on the amateur level.”

President of Football Canada Jim Mullins released the following statement on CFL Reddit to clarify the recent letter.

We are not sure if the XFL/CFL talks even include rules yet. According to the article, however, there is already an XFL’s rules committee set up.

“A source said the XFL’s rules committee includes Dwayne Johnson, the megastar actor who’s also an XFL co-owner.”

When it comes to discussing rules by the XFL/CFL, not much has been said because perhaps not much has been discussed. The CFL’s statement about talks with the XFL included the phrase ‘business model’ multiple times.

The CFL seems to be interested in the business model of the XFL at this point. I can’t see the XFL and CFL getting into real serious talks about rules if the XFL does not even have a CFO Chief Football Officer in place yet.

A lot of energy and talk has happened since the joint announcement about what the rules could be. Maybe we haven’t heard anything about the rules, or why the CFL did not respond to Football Canada, is they don’t know because they haven’t even talked about them yet.

We most likely won’t know for months about anything when it comes to rules. I don’t see the CFL talking about changes to rules until after the 2021 CFL season. So like a lot of times in this XFL/CFL journey, we will have to wait and see.