The CFL will not fine or punish the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after one of their scouts was escorted out of a Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice on Tuesday, after having more than a dozen pages of notes confiscated from him.
Hamilton had filed a complaint with the league about the actions of Ron Trentini, who had been accredited by the Bombers for Saturday's game against Winnipeg at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
But the league maintains that because it has no rules against scouting open practices, it would be unreasonable to issue punishment in this instance.
However, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon has put all eight franchises on notice that the practice of scouting opposing teams' practices is unacceptable, and any more such incidents will be met with discipline from the league.
"The commissioner has fully reviewed the incident that was brought to his attention [Tuesday]" league spokesperson Jamie Dykstra said. "The commissioner has informed the Winnipeg football club, and all member clubs, that this type of practice is unacceptable and similar incidents in the future may result in disciplinary action."
Though the league has no plans to create a rule to specifically address spying, Dykstra said the commissioner has full authority to deal with the issue.
Though the Bombers have admitted no fault, a source said the team planned to draft guidelines for its scouts that would address proper procedures for all scouting, be it in CFL, NFL or university football.
The Bombers reiterated Wednesday they had not authorized Trentini to scout the Ticats' practice for them.
"It should be noted that the [Blue Bombers]did not engage the services of this individual who attended an open practice for said purposes, nor do we condone any such actions," team president Lyle Bauer said in a statement. "Although we have used the services of this individual in the past, it has been in the area of personnel scouting, including tracking of Canadian and CIS players."