CFLPA: Injured football players need more protections

Football players injured on the job in Alberta should receive the same protections extended to anyone else who suffers a workplace injury, says the players’ association

Insurance News

By Ryan Smith

Professional football players injured on the job in Alberta should receive the same protections as anyone else suffering a workplace injury, according to the Canadian Football League’s Players’ Association.

The CFLPA has submitted a brief to an Alberta government panel that reviews the province’s workers’ compensation policies, according to a Global News report.

“Professional football players are no different than every working Canadian,” Brian Ramsay, CFLPA executive director, said in a statement. “They work hard for their employer and deserve to be included in the standards and protections that apply to anyone injured on the job.”

According to the CFLPA, CFL players have “very minimal coverage for accidents and injuries they sustain as part of their work.” Players are currently only covered for health costs for one year past the date of the original injury, Global News reported.

“There is no insurance scheme to cover those injuries past that one-year window, nor is there salary protection for a following season,” the CFLPA said in a release. “This means that a player injured in the last regular season game can be without a paycheque indefinitely.”

Ramsay called on the Alberta Review Panel to help find “workable solutions that acknowledge the responsibility that our employers have to their employees – our members.”
 

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