Last Tuesday several members of the football team held a sit-in protest in the field house in an attempt to have a suspended player reinstated for Saturday’s game against Southwestern Oklahoma.
The player, junior defensive back Ameer Ali was suspended from the team due to his involvement in an altercation during the homecoming party in the Memorial Student Center Nov. 1, according to a source close to the team.
The source said Ali was involved in a shouting match with head coach Scotty Conley, ultimately leading to his suspension.
Conley confirmed Ali was involved in an altercation in the MSC and due to his involvement has been suspended from all football activities until the fall semester of 2009.
The protest started close to 2 p.m. on Tuesday and ended in a closed meeting that the press was not permitted to attend.
Conley said players told him later some wanted to have a conversation with Athletic Director Carlton Cooper, but had no intention of starting any kind of protest.
“Some of the players went to the office and Cooper was out of town,” Conley said. “They waited for him and consequently missed practice.”
According to the source, the meeting, which was between the protesting players and the sports administration, ended without Ali’s reinstatement. The source added that the players’ football careers and scholarships were threatened because of their involvement in the protest.
Conley rejected this claim saying there were no threats issued.
According to the source, another meeting was held the next day in which Conley told the team that senior running back, Nebil El-Amin, was off the team and would not play Saturday.
This did not come to pass though, with El-Amin playing during Saturday’s game and scoring two touchdowns. Conley said there were some issues with El-Amin, but they were handled prior to the start of last Saturday’s game.
Conley added although it is regrettable having to discipline a player, it is necessary for athletes to adhere to a code of conduct.
During the sit-in, senior quarterback Terry Mayo had strong words regarding the team adjustment.
“Nobody is suiting up unless he suits up,” Mayo said, referring to the Lions’ last game of the season this past Saturday.
During the protest, Ali confirmed he was involved in an altercation, but said he was actually just trying to stop two parties from fighting.
“I was breaking up a fight at the party when the cops took us outside to talk,” he said.
Ali said one of the officers took down his information although he was not arrested. The next day Ali said he had a meeting with Donna Spinato, chief of university police, which according to Ali did not go well at all.
“She said I said the rudest thing she had ever heard in 20 years but wouldn’t tell me what it was,” Ali said.
Spinato declined to comment on whether or not there was a meeting stating FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) laws make it illegal for her to talk about meetings with students. She did say if a meeting took place between her and a student, it would be about what disciplinary action to take if the student did something illegal.
After the meeting, both Ali and Mayo declined to comment further on the situation.
Mayo made it clear although Ali’s status with the team was important, he held nothing against the coaches.
“I have no disrespect for the coaches; I respect my coaches,” Mayo said.
Ali’s requests were simple.
“I just want to play football,” he said.