After many months of consultation and drafting, the Saskatchewan government has finally proclaimed the Athletics Commission Act, which provides a legislative framework to sanction combative sporting events in the province.
Prior to this development, changes had been made to the Criminal Code to allow for regulatory oversight by the provinces for these types of events. So the sport itself wasn’t illegal, but because there was no sanctioning body, holding an event would have been illegal. Now that the athletics commission has been established, promoters have been given the framework to host combative events such as mixed martial arts (MMA), boxing, modified muay thai, and full contact karate. Amateur events are not included.
“Although it’s there to regulate, essentially having the commission in place allows professional combat sports to take place in the province as long as they meet the condition set out in the regulations and legislation,” said Scott Brown, chair of the commission and one of the assistant deputies for Parks, Culture, and Sport.
In other words, the commission is simply there to reduce the risk to athletes and those observing it. Conditions include such standard things as having medical staff and an ambulance on site and verifying the health of the athletes prior to an event. Of course, there are also a whole host of other things designated in the rules and conditions, such as the parameters of the venue, down to the number of ropes used to enclose the ring.
“Setting up a brand new commission is quite frankly a lot of work,” said Brown. “We reached out to other provinces to see what we could learn in terms of best practices and asked what experiences they had setting up their own commission, what rules worked and what didn’t. We adopted the best of the best.”
Including a new information website for the athletics commission, they are hoping to be fully up and running and accepting applications by April, said Brown. The website will have access to information such as forms for licensing.
The commission will include a medical advisor and an adjudicator to handle any appeals that crop up. It will also be responsible for hiring personnel for events, such as referees, judges, and timekeepers. In the event that anyone is found to be in breach of the regulations, Brown said there are a wide range of administrative penalties depending on if they’re dealing with an individual or a corporate body.
“For anyone who’s thinking about holding an event, the first step would be to pick up the phone and call the commission,” said Brown. “We’re a brand new commission and just getting set up and running, but we’ll lean heavily on partners provinces and industry experts that we worked with in the months leading up to this.”
With this new opportunity opening up, Saskatchewan has the potential to become the next arena for popular champions like Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Adonis Stevenson. Brown said that several promoters have already expressed interest.
Beyond all that, events like these will help encourage visitors to Saskatchewan.
“The tourism industry in Saskatchewan is very pleased that the government has moved forward with the formation of the Athletics Commission of Saskatchewan,” said Randy Fernets, Tourism Saskatoon Director of Industry Development and Sport. “We look forward to seeing visitors come from across the country to visit our province and experience professional mixed martial arts and boxing events.”
