Vancouver joins the MMA party
By Jane W.
– Canadian Correspondent
Recently, Vancouver city council – after years of refusing to allow any mma fights in the city – allowed two events in one night. Both went off without a hitch, convincing city council to allow mma events to be staged in Vancouver on a trial basis over the next two years.
Although most of the objection to mma in Vancouver has been centred around the violent aspects of the sport, one of the reasons city council was against it is because, in Canada, the sport is illegal. Sort of.
According to the Criminal Code of Canada* (which is our big book of federal laws), no prizefight may be staged using gloves that weigh less than 140 grams (4.9 oz). But it’s not a prizefight if there is no prize. It is also not a prizefight if the event is held under the authority of a provincial athletic board.
It’s all a bit confusing, but apparently if the province of British Columbia had an athletic commission, mma would be legal here. But we don’t. So it isn’t.
A few weeks ago, the city of Vancouver approved two mma events, held on the same night. The events were approved because they were amateur bouts with no prize awarded – therefore it’s not a prizefight. City councilors were in attendance at these events and saw with their own eyes that it is just another sporting event, not a grisly death match. Fans in attendance treated it as a sporting event and not a reason to riot or cause havoc, as some councilors and citizens seemed to believe.
Having seen firsthand that there was no need to worry about extra policing outside of the usual additional staff required during any sporting event, city council was more than willing to approve mma in Vancouver on a trial basis. Some had reservations and voted against it, but the majority won. The thinking was – as it should be – that it was safer for the amateur fighters to have a sport that was regulated and overseen by an athletic commission rather than a sport that was illegal and kept underground. In this way, the fighters will remain safe.
The Vancouver Athletic Commission will oversee any future events, including an expected UFC event in June 2010 and possibly a WEC event prior to that. The Vancouver police have no issues with the sport and have no plans to enforce the federal law. As long as the province of British Columbia does not feel the need to intervene, they can even approve of the Vancouver Athletic Commission and then it would be completely legal.
Sometimes laws are just stupid. Thankfully, Vancouver city council has seen reason. I have every expectation that this two year trial will be a complete success and we will see a full legalization of the sport – in Vancouver, at least – in 2012.
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*Criminal Code of Canada
Section 83:
(1) Every one who
(a) engages as a principal in a prize fight,
(b) advises, encourages or promotes a prize fight, or
(c) is present at a prize fight as an aid, second, surgeon, umpire, backer or reporter,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.Definition of “prize fight”
(2) In this section, “prize fight” means an encounter or fight with fists or hands between two persons who have met for that purpose by previous arrangement made by or for them, but a boxing contest between amateur sportsmen, where the contestants wear boxing gloves of not less than one hundred and forty grams each in mass, or any boxing contest held with the permission or under the authority of an athletic board or commission or similar body established by or under the authority of the legislature of a province for the control of sport within the province, shall be deemed not to be a prize fight.
©2009 Jane W.
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