Canadian CFL tested athlethes in Porvoo

The Canadian professional football league, CFL, tested European American football players at their Global Combine event in Porvoo, Finland on Saturday, February 11, 2023. Hosted by the SAJL, eight athletes from five different countries gave their performances to a CFL representative present in Porvoo.

This was the fourth time that the CFL’s Global Combine event had landed in Finland. During their international combine events, the representatives of the Canadian league aim to find high-quality athletes who have the potential to succeed in the world’s second-largest professional league. This year, only one Finnish player was among those tested. Aleksi Olavuo, who played for the Helsinki Wolverines last season, came to Porvoo to demonstrate his skills directly from the Finnish Defense Forces Sports School. Also among those tested was Norwegian Rune Nilsen, who played for United Newland Crusaders last season.

Lawrence Hopper, the coordinator of CFL’s global scouting operation who came to Porvoo’s Uusimaa Areena, stated that the league has updated the handling of global players in many ways. International players who reach contracts with CFL teams sign a rookie contract, which lasts for a length of 2+1 years.

In addition, players who make it to the active roster will now receive the same minimum salary as other players in the league. The minimum salary for CFL players is $70,000 Canadian dollars per year. Previously, the compensation for global quota players was $40,000 Canadian dollars per season. If a global player does not make it to the playing roster, those on the practice squad will receive a salary of approximately $3,000 Canadian dollars per month.

Best players receive an invitation to Edmonton.

CFL will organize five Global Combine events on different continents during the early part of the year. In addition to Finland, European players will be tested at the UK Combine later in February. Based on the results of these international events, the top 20 promising athletes will be invited to the national combine event in Edmonton from March 21st to 25th, 2023. Along with the 20 global candidates, 80 Canadian players will compete for positions in the draft event on May 2nd.

Last season, three Finnish players (Filip Zacok, Viljo Lempinen, Karri Pajarinen) received invitations to the combine event held in Toronto. However, none of the Finnish players were selected in the draft.

So far, only two Finnish players have made it onto a CFL team’s roster. Kimi Linnainmaa played for the Toronto Argonauts in 2019, and Chris Mulumba has been playing for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 2021 and 2022 seasons and is currently preparing for his third year under contract.

In addition to Mulumba and Linnainmaa, Sebastien Sagne signed a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the 2021 season but was injured before the start of training camp and was unable to try his luck in Canada.

Porvoo Combine results

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Performances