2018 world junior appeal adjourned by independent panel until criminal case complete

An appeal made by members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team to an independent board has been adjourned until the criminal trial involving those players has ended.

A London, Ont., court has heard legal arguments in the sexual assault case of five former members of Canada's world junior team. The trial is set to take place next year.

Dillon Dube, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were charged earlier this year in connection with an alleged sexual assault at a hotel in 2018. All five plan to defend themselves against the allegations and have opted for a jury trial.

Hockey Canada commissioned an independent adjudicative panel to determine whether certain members of the 2018 men's junior team breached the national sport body's code of conduct, and if so, what sanctions should be imposed against those players.

Shortly after the panel provided its final adjudicative report to all involved parties, a notice of appeal was filed. An independent appeal board was then formed to oversee the appeal hearing.

The independent appeal board has granted a motion to adjourn the appeal hearing until the criminal trial has ended.

Hockey Canada says in a statement it has tried to proceed expeditiously throughout the appeal process, and any further delay has resulted from the appeal board's decision on the adjournment motion, and not from anything the sport organization has failed to do.