The head of communications for the Toronto Catholic District School Board is downplaying reports of a fight that broke out at a high school football game that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford left a council meeting to attend.
Ford had left the council meeting for about two hours on Thursday in order to lead his team, the Don Bosco Eagles, to a convincing playoff win over the Carr Crusaders. Adding to the controversy, reports said a fight broke out at Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School and Ford's team had to be taken home in a special, police-ordered bus.
But TCDSB spokesperson John Yan on Friday said details of the fight were overblown.
He told CP24 that an altercation had occurred between the Crusaders' coach and an official over a call disagreement.
But the “special” bus was called because the game ended an hour-and-a-half early. The other vehicle typically used to take Ford's team back to Don Bosco wasn't available.
The school’s principal requested the early bus after referees ended the game at halftime, when the score was 35-0 for Ford's team. Yan said he was concerned about weather conditions and the students' safety.
Toronto Police Service school resource officers, who happened to be onsite, dealt with the request and asked the TTC to send a bus, Yan said.
After Ford returned to City Hall, he became visibly frustrated by reporters' questions about his decision to leave the council meeting – something for which he's been repeatedly criticized.
"I made a commitment…and I'm not changing," he said about his football team.
Ford also commented that his team is headed for the city championship and has gone undefeated all season and, as the coach, he had a responsibility to be there.
He then added: "If I wasn't there, things would have gotten out of hand."
