(Toronto) Players from the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders will be in a legal strike position starting Thursday afternoon.
Posted at 2:26 p.m.
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, the CFL clarified the legal status of Alberta teams, indicating that players from both teams will be in a position to legally strike at 2:25 p.m. ET Thursday.
Players from the Elks and Stampeders are the only ones to start their camp on Sunday, after negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement ended on Saturday evening.
Players from the other seven CFL teams were in a legal position to go on strike as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning and did not report to their camp.
Neither the CFL nor its players’ association has formally announced the resumption of negotiations, but sources within the league say the two sides resumed informal talks this week.
The CFL preseason schedule is set to begin Monday night with a game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina.
The league has yet to announce its plans for that game, but it’s unlikely to happen as both teams have yet to begin practice.