Canada: Ice hockey player arrested for grabbing policeman’s bum

Jul 07 2014
Written by Nick Duffy

A Canadian ice hockey star has apologised, after he was arrested for grabbing a policeman’s bum.

Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who is straight, was arrested last week on July 1 for the incident in an Ottawa bar.

He said: “I regret my actions on Canada Day and sincerely apologize to my fans, teammates and the Philadelphia Flyers organization for my misguided attempt at humour.

“Following an investigation, law enforcement determined that charges are not warranted.

“I have the utmost respect for law enforcement and apologize to the Ottawa Police Department and specifically the individual officer. I will be making no further public comment on this matter.”

The team’s manager Ron Hextall said: “We’ve been in contact with Claude and the Ottawa Police Service and have been informed that no charges will be filed.

“Moving forward, we will deal with this incident internally and we will no longer publicly discuss this matter.”

Canadian four-time Olympic gold medallist Charline Labonte announced that she is gay in an online statement earlier this year.

A Swedish Ice Hockey team last week unveiled a new rainbow-themed kit.