The Ontario Hockey League announced today that the Windsor Spitfires have been punished for what the league termed as “violations of our Recruitment/Benefit Rules and Policies.”
The club was fined $400,000 and was stripped of five OHL draft picks over the next five years – first-rounders in 2013, 2014 and 2016 and second-rounders in 2015 and 2017. The ruling was handed down based on findings from two separate investigations, the league said in a statement.
“While the penalties may appear to be severe,” OHL Commissioner David Branch said in the statement, “the league and its member teams recognize for any such violations of our Recruitment/Benefit Rules and Policies, we must send a strong message to preserve the integrity of our league.”
Branch pointed to the league’s enforcement program, which was developed by the OHL’s Board of Governors in 2009. The program, he said in the statement, “is designed to address and attempt to eliminate violations of the rules and impose appropriate penalties if violations occur.”
The enforcement process,” Branch added, “is an integral part of the process to ensure integrity and fair play among the member teams. One of the fundamental principles of the enforcement process is to ensure that those member teams that are abiding by the rules are not disadvantaged by their commitment to compliance.”
Check out this story from The Windsor Star.