A Quebec Football Team Somehow Squashed A Historic Trophy & Their School Got Fined $10,000
How did this even happen???
Screenshots of footage and a photo obtained by ATM 103.5 showing damage to the Bol d'Or.
Quebec CÉGEP Beauce-Appalaches (CBA) is facing a $10,000 fine after its football team,* the Condors, destroyed the coveted Bol d'Or trophy. The RSEQ (Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec), which runs the football tournament that awards the Bol d'Or, also plans to ban the CBA from football playoffs in the 2023 season.
According to a statement from the RSEQ, the destruction of the trophy occurred on November 19 following the Condors' victory in the division three football tournament.
ATM 103.5 first broke the story about the trophy's destruction. The outlet published photos and videos of the damage.
"The RSEQ concludes that the student-athletes of the Condors football team from the Beauce-Appalaches CEGEP made disgraceful and irreverent gestures that damaged the reputation, brand image and notoriety of the Bol d'Or in addition to constituting a flagrant lack of consideration for the champion teams of previous editions," the December 19 statement reads.
"In 35 years of RSEQ activity, this situation is unprecedented and goes far beyond the destruction of the trophy itself," it continues. "The behaviour of the student-athletes of the Beauce-Appalaches CEGEP Condors football team definitely goes against the participant's code of ethics."
In addition to the fine and playoff ban, the RSEQ is threatening to "[suspend] all administrative procedures related to the CBA football team" until the school identifies the specific players responsible for the damage to the trophy. Those students will be subject to a two-year athletic probation.
The organization says it will have to get a replacement cup for the 2023 season.
*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article stated that the Condors are a soccer team. They are a football team.
