Officials with the Manitoba Minor Football Association are investigating threats allegedly made on the internet by teenaged members of one team against members of a rival team.

The threats were allegedly made by a couple of North Winnipeg Nomads players against rivals on the Crescentwood Grizzlies on the popular social-networking website Facebook. The players are at the bantam level, for 14-year-old boys and girls.

Parents and coaches of the Grizzlies players took the threats so seriously that they cancelled a game against the Nomads last weekend.

The coach of the Grizzlies did not respond to CBC's request for an interview, but Jim Carson, manager of the Crescentwood Community Club, said action had to be taken.

"You leave it on the field. This went beyond that, whether the kids that did it realize it or not," he said. "The threat had to be taken seriously."

2 players suspended

Nomad team officials said they don't know anything specific about the threats, but the club has suspended two players until its investigation is complete.

"If these statements are true, if that happened, then we seriously condemn them, because that's not what we're all about," said board member Ron Havens.

Nomads president Glenn Schaworski worries the thriving football program, which involves more than 400 kids, has been given a black eye.

"This keeps kids that may be on the street from doing things that they shouldn't be doing," he said.

"I think that holds true not just in the North End, I think that holds true in Crescentwood, in Charleswood, right across the city. You keep kids participating in sports, they're not doing things they shouldn't be doing."

Carson hopes the matter will be resolved quickly and that the two teams can play the missed game at a neutral field.

All of the officials involved in the case agreed this was an extremely rare incident in Winnipeg minor football.