Breaking News - Ontario Hockey League confirms investigation into teams accepting bribes
Hockey parents are some of the most loyal and dedicated parents in the world. From weekend tournaments to early morning practices, parents are willing to do everything possible to help their children's hockey dreams come true. Unfortunately it appears at least some parents willingness to help has gone way too far.
Today, Ontario Hockey League Commissioner, David Branch confirmed that the league had recently hired a private investigator to look into some recent claims of parents paying bribes for their children to be selected.
Three GTHL coaches have told me they have evidence (txt msgs) of parents paying $30K+.
Branch statement:
In his most recent statement though Branch claimed that the league was never able to find or substantiate any of the claims put forward by those involved.
Stories of parents being willing to pay money to ensure their children are selected is nothing new. Almost everyone who played hockey has a story of a sponsor's son making the team, after new jerseys magically get donated to the team. It's not surprising that this is coming to light now.
However, if at any point this investigation does provide evidence that payments were accepted it could do a significant amount of damage to the league and the teams involved. This would also go a long way to discouraging players from competing knowing that their hockey careers could be cut short, just because other families are willing to make financial payments to teams.
| POLL | ||
Do you believe teams accept bribes to draft players? | ||
| I know teams do | 77 | 29.3 % |
| I'm sure some teams have | 170 | 64.6 % |
| No, I don't think this is an issue | 16 | 6.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
