Four Canadian hockey stars remain suspended after sexual assault acquittal

Four ice hockey players who were acquitted of sexual assault last year should remain barred from representing Canada at international level because they broke Hockey Canada's code of conduct, an independent appeals board has ruled.

The board recommended that four of the five acquitted players remain suspended from all Hockey Canada-sanctioned programmes.

The fifth player, Alex Formenton, was also deemed to have broken conduct rules, but is now being reinstated.

The former players for Canada's under-20s junior hockey team were accused of sexual assault over an incident that took place in 2018. They were found not guilty in July 2025.

The players are Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Carter Hart, as well as Formenton.

The ruling does not change the fact that all five players are eligible to play for teams that compete in the National Hockey League (NHL), which operates separately from Hockey Canada.

All five were allowed by the NHL to sign contracts again for the league's teams late last year. The NHL operates under a separate authority to Hockey Canada, and conducted its own investigation into the incident that was at the centre of the legal case.

While Forementon is eligible for immediate reinstatement by Hockey Canada, the others will have to wait for months or years before they can return to the ice at an international level.