Mayor Rob Ford was not denied access to an exclusive lounge at the Air Canada Centre Saturday night because he voted against Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s plan to expand BMO field, according to an MLSE spokesman.

“That is absolutely not the case,” said spokesman Dave Haggith.

An official source said the exclusive Director’s Lounge is invitation-only, there was a private function being held and the room was at capacity. Ford’s vote on the BMO Field expansion had nothing to do with it, the source said.

MORE ON THESTAR.COM

Rob Ford investigation could hang on a 40-second mystery call

Rob Ford’s first big fundraiser is set for … Vaughan?

Brazen 2 probe of Rob Ford and others mired in OPP-Toronto dispute

According to Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, who attended the game with Ford, the mayor became “visibly upset” when he was blocked from entering the lounge, an area he has been allowed to go before — at least once with his friend and alleged extortionist Sandro Lisi.

The mayor complained that he was being kept out of the lounge because he voted Thursday against a plan by MLSE to invest $10 million of city funds to expand BMO field.

“He just kept repeating it,” said Di Giorgio. “That was when he became more and more irate.”

People around the mayor were agreeing with him and making comments like, “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that,” which helped to “egg the mayor on and get him into more trouble,” Di Giorgio said.

The councillor said security guards spoke to him and asked him to tell the mayor there was a private function occurring in the lounge, in an effort to stop him from repeating the allegation.

“I did, but he was adamant that, ‘No, that’s not the reason’. . . He’s very opinionated and you’re not going to convince him otherwise.”

MLSE owns both the Maple Leafs and Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, which calls BMO Field home. MLSE has been seeking $10 million from each of the three levels of government, to go along with $90 million MLSE plans to spend, to expand the stadium. The larger stadium would then serve as home to football’s Toronto Argonauts as well.

DiGiorgio mused that if anyone could have calmed Ford down, it was his brother, Councillor Doug Ford. But he said both Fords were accustomed to going to the Director’s Lounge during games.

“I think both he and his brother may have felt the same way. So, if that’s the case, it’s very difficult to dislodge them when they’re on the same songsheet.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Sources told the Star that the mayor was “belligerent” at the game and received a warning from security staff. Photos and videos taken by fans during the game show Ford in the concourse with security employees and police officers nearby.

The councillor lost track of Ford after the game, which concerned him because the mayor had been invited to a function in DiGiorgio’s ward hosted by the Italian-Canadian community.

“I did call him to find out whether he had gone back to city hall,” said DiGiorgio. “He essentially wouldn’t tell me where he was. He repeated what he had said to me earlier — that he was OK.”

In fact, Ford did return to city hall, where he was alone in his office until 1:30 a.m. Then he took a taxi and was later spotted at Muzik nightclub, one of his favourite haunts.

Ford’s chief of staff, Dan Jacobs, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.