New commissioner Stewart Johnston is a strong advocate for CFL players being eligible to compete in flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics — even if it could make a mess of the league’s regular-season schedule.
“I would love for CFL players to be competing at the global stage of the Olympics,” Johnston told the media on Monday. “I’m a huge believer in the importance of flag football when it comes to the growth of the game in our country. We don’t have it quite as easy as that league down south in terms of managing our schedule, that’d be possibly an interruption. We’re looking at a number of ways we might be able to handle it. I can tell you, my motivation is to get our players there.”
The dates for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif. have already been announced, running from July 14 to July 30. On Tuesday, NFL owners officially voted to allow their players to participate in the tournament.
CFLPA president Solomon Elimimian told the Canadian Press this week that the union supports CFL player participation as well, though it would conflict with Week 7 and Week 8 of a traditional CFL schedule. There could be even further disruption to the CFL schedule if players need to miss time for a training camp or pre-Olympics practice session.
Regardless of the potential logistical problems, it seems that Johnston also believes the upside of Olympic inclusion would be well worth the added headaches.
“I think this is that important. I think flag football is going to be a huge plank of the growth of the game in Canada. I want to see encourage young boys and girls to pick up footballs and play and see how wonderful this game is, how much fun it is. They’re going to fall in love and I think this is such an important sport it will last past ’28 but regardless, I want to see us try to do whatever we can to make that happen,” he said.
“I think that we are working very closely with Football Canada. Our team is very focused on on flag in general at the grassroots and the elite level and I want to explore every possible way to get footballs in the hands of men and women, boys and girls.”
Flag football was approved as a sport for the 2028 Summer Olympics two years ago. Football Canada recently hired former CFL head coach Paul LaPolice as the head coach of the Canadian men’s national flag football team.
The first step to Olympic qualification is the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championship, where as many as three of the six tournament spots could be filled. Canada finished seventh at the 2024 World Championships in Finland.
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