The CEO of Athletics Canada has been ousted from his job after engaging in series of sexually graphic Twitter exchanges over a number of months on his personal account, according to sources.
Athletics Canada’s board of governors made the near-unanimous decision to cut ties with Dave Bedford after an emergency meeting on Monday. The sources are not being named because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. An official announcement is expected later Wednesday.
Athletics Canada would not comment when reached Wednesday.
Athletics Canada is a publicly funded organization that represents thousands of athletes, from children running in local clubs to elite athletes competing for Canada at the Olympics and other international events.
Bedford posted the tweets as replies to nearly a dozen different Twitter accounts. The tweets have since been deleted.
Exchanges of humour
On Monday, Bedford defended the tweets as exchanges of humour.
“It’s my personal account. It’s not like I was sending out photos or tweets myself,” Bedford said. “In this day and age with all we have been going through, I found some of these things funny so I commented. It’s apparent others didn’t feel the same way so I removed them.”
In his personal Twitter bio, Bedford identifies himself as the CEO of Athletics Canada and provides a link to the organization’s website.
After receiving a number of internal complaints over the weekend, Athletics Canada’s board chair Helen Manning spoke to Bedford who then deleted the offensive tweets and locked his account.
“Those types of comments are not something that is in keeping with the policy of how we see our people in the public domain,” Manning said.
Nearly a dozen interactions
CBC has reviewed nearly a dozen interactions by Bedford going back as far as August.
In one, a woman references oral sex and Bedford replies: “You are killing me girl. Don’t know whether to laugh or cry reading your tweets!”
In another, a woman remarks about not wearing a bra and Bedford responds: “Always important to have a couple of firm, upstanding individuals.”
“I have not abused anybody in any way shape or form at any point,” Bedford told CBC Sports earlier this week. “I merely commented on other people’s tweets that I found to be humorous and I guess other people did not and I respect that.”
Bedford was hired by Athletics Canada in 2019 and has worked in a variety of leadership roles across Canadian sport including the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Toronto Argonauts.
The organization has made Safe Sport and listening to athletes a priority and has committed to investigating allegations of sexual abuse within its ranks.
Audrey Giles, a member of Athletics Canada’s Safe Sport Committee, said Monday Bedford’s behaviour made it difficult for him to continue as the face of an organization that says it’s committed to change.
“If you’re a female athlete or a female coach or, you know, even a male athlete and you’re looking at the tone and the language of these tweets, could you have any confidence that this person could be a changemaker?” Giles said.
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