Thursday, December 14, 2017

WWE CANCELS RETURN TO EDMONTON AFTER BOXING DEATH LEADS TO BAN ON ALL COMBAT SPORTS

A scheduled World Wrestling Entertainment debut at the brand new Rogers Place arena in Edmonton, Alberta Canada on 2/9/18 was canceled after new regulations banning all forms of combat sports were enacted by the city's council following the June death of a boxer following an Edmonton fight.

The Rogers Place website announced the cancellation with the following announcement "Following new guidelines established by Edmonton’s city council, WWE’s event on Friday, February 9 at Rogers Place has been postponed. The WWE is working closely with the local Commission, and hope to return with their sports entertainment events to Edmonton in the near future."

The Edmonton city council announced on 12/8 that they were placing a one year moratorium on new permits or licenses for anything that fell under the umbrella of combat sports, which for some reason, has included WWE, despite the fact that the company's product is anything but an actual, legitimate combat sports competition.   The moratorium is scheduled to stand until December 2018.

The moratorium was enacted after the June death of boxer Tim Hauge following a fight card held in the city.  There has been criticism of the city council for enacting the ban after UFC held an event in September, with critics believing they waited until after that event instead of just immediately issuing the ban.

The ban is up to 1 year. Council is awaiting a report into the death of boxer Tim Hague which is being released today   Following its release and the recommendations in it, Edmonton council could lift the ban at any time in the new year.

No comments: