Mario Cecchini insists and signs: The Montreal Alouettes are not for sale.

“The owners have repeated to us that the team is in good hands and is not for sale,” said the club president on Tuesday in the club’s final report.

Speculation about a possible sale of the Als has been raging since late August, when minority owner Gary Stern was ousted from Sid Spiegel’s estate. The three heirs, i.e. the children of the man who died in 2021, own 75% of the Alouettes, Stern holds the rest.

Cecchini was therefore asked if he had officially announced that there would be no team sale process in the upcoming off-season.

“I’m not announcing anything because it was never in question,” he replied.

“Since the presence of the majority shareholders last August, we have not made any announcement and there has been no consideration in this direction. We never communicated anything other than stability and that the team is not for sale.

In light of these statements, one can wonder if the organization would not want the details of a possible sale to be made public, as was the case last time. Or Cecchini may not be informed of the heirs’ intentions, as it may be that their aim is really to remain the owners of the Montreal team.

The very discreet family

It would obviously be easier to get the facts straight about the heirs’ true intentions if they agreed to meet with the Montreal media. At the moment that doesn’t seem to be a possibility.

“The family wants to be very discreet. It’s a group of owners who don’t want to be in the spotlight, Cecchini said. Because of this, we started discussing the possibility that they could have a little more presence.

The Alouettes’ president also first met the heirs face-to-face during the Canadian Football League (CFL) Eastern Section Semifinals. It was November 6th, more than two months after the changing of the guard…

However, Cecchini cautioned those who believe the heirs aren’t actually passionate about owning a CFL team.

“Don’t assume Sid Spiegel’s kids aren’t interested. When I saw them at our game, they were interested and asked good questions.

“We’ll see how this all plays out,” added Cecchini. It is a situation that is not common and we live with it. We do our best.”

“We are focused on the work we have to do with the administration team, the players, the sponsors and the fans. When these four elements are met, participation is usually met.