Another major sponsor drops out of World Juniors amid Hockey Canada SA scandal
Hockey Canada has been dealing with an incredible amount of blowback after it was revealed that less than 8 members of the Canadian World Junior Hockey Championship team of 2018 were involved in a sexual assault. The players, who's names have not been revealed, got the young woman extremely drunk before taking her to a hotel room and repeatedly assaulting her. They also made her say on video that she was sober, shower and clean herself up afterwards. The last part is particularly disturbing, as they knew enough to attempt to cover their tracks, which is a pretty good sign that this was not the first time such an event had occurred.
Hockey Canada was made aware of what happened, they investigated, but did not require the players to participate. This has sparked widespread outrage across the hockey community. Today, Tim Horton's announced they would be stopping their sponsorship of HockeyCanada's World Junior team. The Government of Canada, Canadian Tire and Scotiabank have also rescinded their sponsorships.
Tim Horton's spokesperson Michael Oliveira released this statement along with the announcement.
It's abundantly clear that Hockey Canada is going to need to change the way it handles these situations if they want partnerships for these events. It's also clear that there is a need for a culture change in hockey. There is absolutely no excuse for players being able to get away with such disgusting and abusive behaviour. Until people are held accountable for their actions.
