TORONTO — The CFL announced Thursday that a cap on non-player football operations costs will be implemented for the 2019 season.
The cap is set at just under $2.59 million for 2019 and 2020, and will be reviewed after that.
Coaches and other football operations staff, including general managers, scouts and equipment and video personnel, fall under the cap. Teams are capped at 11 coaches and 14 other football operations staff.
Team doctors and athletic therapists are excluded.
The league said cap violations can result in a team fine, a personal fine and/or the loss of draft picks.
The fine equals the amount by which the limit has been exceeded up to $100,000. For any amount over $100,000, penalties range from a minimum of a $25,000 fine and the loss of one second-round draft pick to a maximum of a $250,000 fine and the loss of three draft picks.
The league said teams that voluntarily report their violations to the league in 2019 will only be subject to team fines, not personal fines or the loss of draft picks.
The effect of the cap are already being felt. The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced Wednesday that the team and assistant vice president of football operations and player personnel John Murphy were parting ways.
On Thursday, the Montreal Alouettes announced they were not renewing the contracts of defensive back coach Billy Parker, receivers coach Jason Tucker, assistant offensive line coach Chris Mosley and defensive assistant coach Cris Dishman. Scouts Eric Deslauriers and Russ Lande were also not retained.
Under the policy, clubs will report quarterly to the CFL and file all football operations contracts with the league. The CFL will audit clubs each year.
The Canadian Press
