The CFL has suspended Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros one game for failing to respond to an off-season drug-testing request.<\/p>\n
The league announced Wednesday officials with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) twice tried to reach Collaros by phone and another time via email over a two-hour period. It added Collaros, 36, failed to respond within 24 hours, which usually would result in a two-game suspension.<\/p>\n
The league said after a review it shortened the suspension to one game, citing “extenuating circumstances.”<\/p>\n
The CFL also stated Collaros has never tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug under the joint CFL\/CFL Players’ Association drug policy.<\/p>\n
The CFL and CFLPA have also agreed to enhance contact protocols for off-season testing of players.<\/p>\n
“Zach Collaros is one of the most respected leaders in our locker room and across the CFL,” Bombers president Wade Miller said in a statement. “He’s a professional in every sense \u2014 committed, accountable, and a true example of what it means to be a Blue Bomber.<\/p>\n
“There was no intent for wrongdoing by Zach \u2014 just a missed step in the process. Both the CFL and CFLPA have since clarified and improved their communication protocols to help ensure this doesn’t happen to other players in the CFL.”<\/p>\n
Under terms of the drug policy, suspended players can’t play in regular-season or playoff games. It is up to their club whether they participate in team activities, such as training camp, exhibition games, practices or meetings.<\/p>\n
“Zach will miss our first regular-season game but will continue to fully participate in training camp and pre-season games,” Miller said. “As an organization, we’re also reviewing and strengthening how we support players in navigating off-season requirements.<\/p>\n
“Zach remains an incredibly valued leader on and off the field, and we look forward to having him back under centre June 21 (Week 2).”<\/p>\n
Winnipeg kicks off its 2025 season hosting B.C. on June 12 and then visits the Lions the following week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The CFL has suspended Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros one game for failing to respond to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-15405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}