Documents allege Ford threatened teacher, tried to bribe custodians as football coach

Allegations of threatening a teacher and trying to bribe the custodians were revealed in new documents detailing Rob Ford’s tenure as a volunteer football coach obtained by the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

Over 300 pages of documents reveal Ford repeatedly broke the rules, causing the school administrators distress and eventually leading to Ford’s dismissal after 10 years with Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School.

The official reason given for the dismissal, in May 2013, was Ford’s comments in a television interview than many of the players on the Don Bosco football team were involved in gangs and lived in a tough neighbourhood, accusations that parents and school officials called hurtful and untrue.

But the documents reveal a series of incidents that aggravated school officials.

Ford allegedly threatened a teacher and fellow football coach when the coach banned summer practices ahead of the school year. Ford swore at him and challenged him to a fight, the report alleges.

Ford also attempted to bribe the custodians with money in order to keep the school open an hour later in the summer to accommodate the unsanctioned practices, the reports state.

Another reported incident portrays Ford swearing and berating players before making them roll around in goose droppings.

But a player disputed those claims to the Toronto Star, saying the mayor gave the players a choice between running and rolling in the grass and they chose the grass.

In one documented incident, Ford showed up appearing inebriated to an important practice after hearing a judge’s decision to remove him from office for conflict of interest. The mayor then requested the entire team join him for the afternoon at city hall. The school officials worried that would “thrust the students into the middle of the media frenzy.”

The documents were released after a 15-month long freedom of information battle between the Star, Globe, school board and Ford.

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