The federal government has taken back Alan Eagleson's Order of Canada. The announcement was made Friday in Ottawa.

An advisory committee of the Order of Canada Council recommended the removal to the Governor-General of Canada. The eight-member committee is headed by Chief Justice Antonio Lamer of the Supreme Court of Canada.

The former head of the NHL Players' Association is in jail on fraud charges.

Eagleson is the first person to be removed from the Order in its 31-year history.