Blue Bombers cheerleaders in photo flap
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 1:08 AM ET
CBC Sports
Salacious photographs of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers cheerleaders were posted Monday on the internet, leaving the team scrambling to protect its reputation.
The photographs showed members of the Blue Lightning squad posing provocatively in various stages of undress — some of them in their cheerleading outfits.
In one photo, a cheerleader is mooning the camera on Parliament Hill in Ottawa; several others depict the cheerleaders in playful, often suggestive poses.
Blue Bombers spokesman Arash Madani said Monday that no current cheerleaders appear in the photos, which he said were taken in "2005 at the latest."
"Each member puts in countless hours of training, volunteering, mentoring and making a positive impact in the community," he told the Winnipeg Free Press. "A small number of isolated photos from a member without any affiliation to the organization for quite some time is not a reflection of what the Blue Lightning team or the franchise is about."
Winnipeg is winless in three games this season, and ranks last in the CFL in points scored (64) and points allowed (103).
With files from the Canadian Press
