Article content

Mayor Rob Ford is defending his decision to leave another city hall meeting in order to coach his high school football squad, arguing that a game that ended early because of a dispute on Thursday “could have gotten really ugly” if he hadn’t been there to control his team.

Asked to explain why he chose to miss a couple of hours of the third day of city council, Mr. Ford said simply: “It’s a semi-final football game. It’s the playoffs. We’re undefeated. We’re number two in the city. We’re in the championship game.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'I’ve done this for 20 years and I’m not changing': Rob Ford defends leaving city council for football Back to video

He seemed to suggest that the game between his Don Bosco Eagles and Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School couldn’t go ahead without him.

“You don’t have a head coach, you’re going to play a game?” said Mr. Ford. “If I get hit by a car, obviously somebody would have to do it.… I made a commitment, I’m not a quitter.”

[np-related]

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at Father Henry Carr in Etobicoke. “The coach from Henry Carr entered into a dispute with the referee,” said Constable Tony Vella. He said police arrived on scene, an officer investigated, no charges were laid and a TTC bus was called to transport the players from Don Bosco “because it was raining and cold.” John Yan, a spokesman with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, said the police officer at the game was the one normally assigned to the high school and that there was no altercation, just a coach angry with a non-call. He said the TTC bus was dispatched at the request of Ugo Rossi, Don Bosco principal, because the regular bus was not scheduled to pick up the players until 4:30 p.m.