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University of Ottawa president Allan Rock says “widespread behaviour that was disreputable” led to the one-season suspension of the men’s varsity hockey program — not just the allegations that have led to criminal charges against two players.

In a statement Wednesday, Rock countered the accusation that he had hung the team “out to dry” by suspending the program as a whole.

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The criminal charges against two of their players, captain David Foucher, 25, and assistant captain Guillaume Donovan, 24, who are accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Lakehead University student was not the sole reason for suspending the program, Rock said.

He said an investigator’s report on the team’s two-game road trip to Thunder Bay earlier this year raised serious questions about the adequacy of the team’s rules of conduct, alcohol use and how rules were established and enforced.

“We concluded that the behaviour of the men’s hockey team as a whole did not meet the standards expected at uOttawa of those accorded the privilege of wearing our colours in varsity sport. We also decided that the team required new leadership, especially because the coach failed to report the incidents to University authorities after they occurred,” he wrote.