Nike has permanently ended its sponsorship of Hockey Canada in the wake of last year’s sexual assault allegations, Sportsnet confirmed Monday.
The sponsorship termination was first reported by The Globe and Mail.
“Nike is no longer a sponsor of Hockey Canada,” a company spokesperson said in an email to Sportsnet. “We will continue to provide on-ice product for Hockey Canada athletes as part of our partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation, but our individual partnership with the federation has ended.”
In a statement issued to Sportsnet Monday morning, Hockey Canada said it was “appreciative of the longstanding partnership it had with Nike for over two decades and respects their decision not to continue as a Hockey Canada partner.”
Nike announced in October that it was pausing its relationship with the organization. Other top-tier sponsors including Esso, Telus and Tim Hortons had suspended sponsorship last summer.
The termination of the sponsorship comes one month after another sports equipment manufacturer, Bauer Hockey, returned to sponsor Hockey Canada after the organization named Katherine Henderson, a former Curling Canada executive, as its new CEO and president.
It was unclear as to when the sponsorship was terminated by Nike, which has been a partner with Hockey Canada since 1999.
In May 2022, it was revealed that Hockey Canada had paid an undisclosed settlement to a woman in London, Ont., after she alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight men, including members of the 2018 men’s world junior team, in June 2018.
Criticism of how Hockey Canada handled the alleged assault — plus allegations of another one involving the 2003 Canadian team at the World Juniors in Halifax — prompted an overhaul of the governing body’s leadership. Board chair Michael Brind’Amour resigned in August 2022, followed by interim chair Andrea Skinner in early October, followed three days later by CEO Scott Smith’s departure. Hockey Canada’s board members also resigned to make way for a new slate of directors.
Those changes came after a series of parliamentary committee hearings in Ottawa and almost all sponsors permanently suspended support of Hockey Canada, and eight provincial associations halted fee transfers and/or called for wholesale changes to the organization.
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