Pledge day to save SFU football receiving 'tremendous' support, says alumni president

Simon Fraser University football alumni are running a one-day pledge drive until midnight on Tuesday to rally support for the team that was eliminated by university officials three weeks ago.

SFU Football Alumni Society president Mark Bailey said the response was proof of how much momentum there is to keep the 57-year-old program alive.

"So far it's been tremendous," said Bailey. "The way that the pledging works is because we don't technically have the football program reinstated as of yet there's no money to be collected, so these are essentially commitments from individuals."

Players and alumni say they were blindsided on April 4 when the university announced it was cancelling football effective immediately, even though preparations were already underway for the 2023 season in the Lone Star State Conference of the NCAA. Senior athletics director Theresa Hanson told players the decision wasn't financially motivated.

WATCH | SFU football players say decision to end program is 'devastating':

B.C. Lions owner Amar Doman is leading the pledge drive, promising up to $500,000. He told CBC that SFU has acted "cowardly" and hasn't been forthcoming with stakeholders in its decision to drop football.

"To me, they wanted to kill it ... and I'm not the only one saying that," said Doman. "We were told it's not about funds so I don't want to spend too much time on that. They announced the season is going forward, then two weeks later they pull it, don't really apologize, and just say we're helping the athletes get on their way earlier."

Bailey said a meeting last week with SFU President Joy Johnson "felt positive" at the time. But his sense of the situation changed hours later, when the school issued what he considers an inaccurate press release that stated in part: "All parties agree there is no path forward for SFU to play varsity football in the NCAA. We will not be playing varsity football in the fall of this year."

"It seemed as if things were misconstrued and through their communication that we were aligned with their decision-making," said Bailey. "In my opinion you could call it a tactic from their stance ... It kind of threw off a lot of our student athletes as well as supporters."

CBC has requested an interview with Johnson. A university spokesman said "since court proceedings are now scheduled about this issue, we won't be doing interviews until after those proceedings are completed."

Two weeks ago the alumni society filed an injunction application in B.C. Supreme court on behalf of five scholarship players claiming the school is in breach of contract. If successful, the court could order SFU to revive the program.

In a 25-page response filed in B.C. Supreme Court, SFU claims the plaintiff's evidence "does not support the existence of the alleged contracts at all."

The injunction application hearing is scheduled for May 3.