A statement from the Alberta Cricket Council, posted on Facebook on February 27:-
“In an effort to bring some transparency and clarity to the situation involving the Alberta Cricket Council (“ACC”), the Alberta Cricket Association (“ACA”) and Cricket Canada (“CC”), we would like to point out the following events and facts:
1) The ACC had originally applied for membership with CC and for the status of PSO in the province of Alberta in December of 2018, to be applicable for the year 2019. We do not believe that CC’s Executives ever completely reviewed the application even though they are mandated to.
2) The ACC then requested CC’s Executives to take our request to their Internal Dispute Resolution Committee, but they did not.
3) The ACC again applied for membership with CC and for the status of PSO in the province of Alberta in October of 2019, to be applicable for the year 2020. CC again failed to respond/review the application.
4) The ACC then filed a complaint with the SDRCC (a division of Sports Canada) to mediate/arbitrate in the matter. The SDRCC panel after reviewing the initial facts accepted our request to intervene in the matter.
5) As the first step of the arbitration the SDRCC attempted to mediate a resolution between the ACC, the ACA and CC. This step failed and there was no amicable resolution.
6) We are now at the stage of factual and legal submissions in this case. Once completed (within the next 45/60 days), the arbitrator appointed to this case would make a decision on the matter.
Additionally, we would like to clarify that at no point during this process did any member of the ACC approach the ACA asking them to reinstate their membership with the ACA. We were, however requested by CC to see if there is a way the issues in Alberta can be resolved through dialogue within the provincial members. For our members the requirements for dialogue are plain and simple:
1) A dialogue between the ACA and ACC members would only happen if there is an agreement by all parties to have the mediation/arbitration performed by a third party.
2) Our members would not entertain any options of rejoining or merging with the ACA unless there is a clear path defined for the inclusion of ALL members.
3) Our members would not entertain any options of rejoining or merging with the ACA unless there is a clear path defined for the re-election of ALL executives of the ACA once the memberships are restored. These new elections would need to be held under the supervision of a third party.
To recap, as of today:
1) ACC and CC are currently in arbitration facilitated by the SDRCC, the specific details of the arbitration are confidential and will be publically disclosed at the end of the process.
2) None of the ACC members to date have approached the ACA directly for a settlement deal.
3) No settlement deal with the ACA will be discussed unless the conditions above are agreed upon prior to the discussion.
4) The ACC is actively working on our plan for the 2020 season which includes but is not limited to, an inter-city tournament open to all member associations, a franchise style T20 tournament, multiple women’s cricketing event, a youth tournament and a masters tournament. Details of all of these will be release post discussions with the members.
We hope that these points are clear and there are no ambiguities left. Let us stop discussing rumors and get back to focusing on cricket and its future.”