Ticats fined for violating Canadian ratio rule against Riders

Photo courtesy: Ticats.ca

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be a little lighter in their pocket books heading into their home playoff game against the Montreal Alouettes, courtesy of some disciplinary action from the league office.

According to a report from TSN’s Dave Naylor: “The Ticats were disciplined (fined) this week by the CFL for having an illegal roster during portions of last week’s win versus the Roughriders. Did not have required 7 Canadian starters entire game. Meaningless game, so unintentional by Hamilton. But still disciplined.”

The Tiger-Cats won that matchup 24-3, though the game had no playoff implications.

CFL teams have to start seven Canadian players at the beginning of each game, declaring a number on both offence and defence that cannot be reduced over the course of the contest. Under the current CBA, a veteran American player with three years of service on his team or four in the league may replace an injure Canadian starter — a rule that Hamilton has been accused of exploiting this season — but it appears their fancy substituting caught up with them in the regular season finale.

The amount of the fine has not been revealed.