CFLPA Has New President

Jeff Keeping is the new president of the CFL Players' Association.

Keeping was elected to the post Friday night at the union's annual general meeting. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers centre had served on the executive as third vice-president and succeeds Scott Flory as union head.

Flory came under fire following the last round of collective bargaining in 2014 that saw the union abandon its proposals on revenue sharing and player safety. While the players agreed to an increased salary cap of $5 million from $4.4 million, they also accepted annual cap increases of $50,000 over the five-year agreement.

Marwan Hage, a retired offensive lineman and the former second vice-president, moves up to first vice-president, replacing Jay McNeil. Also joining the executive are defensive back Keon Raymond (second vice-president) and offensive lineman Josh Bourke (third vice-president), both of the Toronto Argonauts.

Also, veteran Hamilton offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski becomes the union treasurer. Brian Ramsay, an offensive lineman with the Edmonton Eskimos, has also been hired as the new executive director.

``First, I would like to thank Scott and Jay for their tenure and diligent work on behalf of the Association,'' Keeping said in a statement. ``The newly elected executive brings valuable experience and leadership qualities from serving as long-time player representatives.

``The hiring of Brian Ramsay as the executive director brings not only a wealth of intimate knowledge of the league and our Association, but also a proven business executive in the financial industry.''

The CFLPA also made constitutional and bylaw changes, including the provision that should the entire executive committee be voted in as nationals or internationals, a fourth vice-president's position of the opposite designation would be activated.

This proposal didn't apply to this year's election as Raymond, an international player, was elected.

(Canadian Press)