Partnering with the LFA could lead to the CFL holding regular season games in Mexico.GETTY IMAGES
Mexico's Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional (LFA) and the Canadian Football League have been "collaborating on a multi-phase partnership" that could include an "exchange of players," according to Dan Barnes of the WINNIPEG SUN. LFA CEO Óscar Pérez said that it is his "preference to place at least nine and hopefully 18 Mexican players" with the nine CFL teams for the '19 season. The LFA is "planning for its fourth season," which runs from February through April, and CFL camps "open in June, so the calendars complement one another." CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said that regular season CFL games being played in Mexico "might be a possibility" in '19. Any agreement to place Mexican players on CFL teams or stage CFL games in Mexico "requires meaningful discussions" between the league and the CFL Players' Association, and "eventually the ratification" of a new collective bargaining agreement. Ambrosie is "determined to go global with the CFL brand, its players and coaches." He traveled to Mexico City to meet with Pérez and other LFA officials and will host Pérez at the Grey Cup in Edmonton later this month (WINNIPEG SUN, 11/7).
