A new gang rape scandal, this time involving members of the 2003 National Junior Team, has surfaced at Hockey Canada. Halifax Regional Police confirmed on Friday that an investigation has been opened into an assault allegedly committed during the 2003 World Junior Hockey Championship. alleged gang rape that allegedly occurred in 2018.
These two police investigations are the most recent developments in the crisis that has shaken the sports federation.
“Hockey Canada has been made aware of allegations of a gang sexual assault which allegedly occurred in 2003 involving members of the 2002-03 National Junior Team,” the organization said in a statement released. Friday afternoon.
The organization says it became aware of the alleged crime on Thursday after a reporter contacted it for comment. TSN reporter Rick Westhead “reported troubling revelations regarding the alleged affair,” the letter said. “Mr. Westhead told Hockey Canada that he spoke to multiple witnesses who provided him with explicit descriptions of the assault following an interview with Conservative MP John Nater, who has the same or similar information. »
Hockey Canada says it immediately contacted Halifax Regional Police about the allegations.
The hockey federation also revealed that two weeks before receiving the reporter’s email, “Hockey Canada staff got wind of a rumor about ‘something bad happening at the 2003 World Juniors’.” , but no further information. Hockey Canada says it has also informed Sport Canada of these allegations and has retained the services of an independent investigator. The latter, however, was unable to find out more when Mr. Westhead contacted the organization.
“We believe that the police authorities must investigate what happened in 2003 […]. Hockey Canada will cooperate with authorities in every way possible,” he wrote.
The National Hockey League (NHL) released a short statement on Twitter Friday afternoon, in which she says she was made aware earlier in the day of “the horrific allegations”. The NHL will “review” them and “respond appropriately,” it read.
One scandal after another
Under fire for several weeks already, the national federation lost its federal funding at the end of June, in addition to the support of several sponsors, due to an alleged gang rape involving members of the national junior team. of 2018.
The events allegedly took place in a hotel room in London, Ont., and involved eight players, some of whom were part of the gold-medal-winning Junior Team Canada at the time.
London Police Chief Steve Williams ordered an internal review of his investigation into the alleged gang rape on Thursday. Thanks to this examination, “other possibilities of investigation are available to us”, indicated on Friday Mr. Williams in a press release. The criminal investigation was thus reopened in order to “allow these possibilities to be explored”, he writes.
“Determined to end the culture of silence that plagues hockey”, Hockey Canada implores “anyone with information about this matter to contact the police authorities”.
“We want to be transparent about how we learned of these assault allegations and what steps we are taking to respond to them,” she adds.
With The Canadian Press
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