Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:

When pitted against the NFL in terms of marketing, financials or professionalism, the CFL does not always come out on top in the court of public opinion.

But when it comes to the strength of our respective player associations in reference to our dispute-resolution provisions, the CFLPA has something the NFL players’ union would absolutely kill for: the right to appeal grievances between itself, the league, and the member clubs by submitting them to an independent arbitrator.

Historically, this process has been quite favourable to the CFLPA, but when looking at the decision made by the independent arbitrator in the instance of the CFL vs. Jason Jimenez — whereby Jason was initially suspended for a game by the league for a controversial block that was recently overturned — I’m starting to wonder whether this is the ideal process now that it has left the victim, Anthony Garguilo of the Calgary Stampeders, less than satisfied with the outcome of the decision.

For the most part, the arbitration system appears to be a very fair and reasonable way to resolve disputes between labour and management and the member clubs in the CFL. All parties have a right to make their argument, support it with evidence and witnesses and have judgment passed on their dispute by an impartial authority. But in order to be an ‘independent arbitrator’ the legislation specifically forbids this party from having any association with the CFL, the CFLPA or the member clubs, which is fine and dandy except for those disputes that may require more seasoned or experienced football intuition in rendering a decision.

When looking at the overturning of the Jason Jimenez suspension, a story by Lowell Ullrich in the VancouverProvince reported that the arbitrator in this case premised his ruling to overturn on the sworn testimony of Jason, which remained consistent throughout the entire procedure.

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