Frustration lingers for football fans after Friday's Riders game was postponed

Some football fans are frustrated by the decision to postpone Friday's Saskatchewan Roughriders game against the Calgary Stampeders due to wildfire smoke.

Some fans say there was a lack of communication and the decision to postpone the game took too long to make, which went ahead Saturday with the Riders falling 24-10.

Dean Carruthers, a Riders fan from Christopher Lake, Sask., drove down Friday with friends from Prince Albert, Sask., and Saskatoon to attend Friday's game, which was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. local time.

Carruthers said he suspected that the smoke might cancel the game, but was surprised it took until 10:45 p.m. to officially postpone.

"You kind of knew it was going to get called, but you're hopeful," he said.

Carruthers and his friends decided to stay an extra night, which meant paying for two more rooms at a Regina hotel.

"It adds up, for sure," he said.

Longtime fan Cal Tomlin said he drove 2½ hours from Buchanan, Sask., to attend Friday's game with four friends.

"We expected a game, and five hours later we walked the mile back through the smoke," he said.

Tomlin said they won't be returning to Mosaic Stadium this season to watch the Roughriders.

"We've spent thousands of dollars over the years going to Grey Cups," he said. "I'll still cheer for them, but I'm not going back into that stadium for at least another year."

CFL explains why it cancelled game

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the league explained its rationale for postponing the game. It said it held multiple calls on Friday with stakeholders, such as the teams, a league meteorologist, the players' association, broadcasters and on-site officials.

The league said all stadiums are equipped with air quality sensors that provide real-time data. On Friday, something known as the air quality health index was over 10 for Regina, while a level of eight or above during warmups or the game itself would trigger the league to enact its air quality procedure.

"While conditions initially showed signs of improvement—such as lower readings in Moose Jaw—the forecasted winds didn't materialize," the league said. "Despite the unpredictability of the weather, the goal remained to play the game."

Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said the postponement is not something they will use as an excuse for the loss.

"Honestly, we felt great," Mace said. "We were just happy that it wasn't going to be postponed to who knows when, right? Everybody got a good night's sleep — the other team had to do the same thing we did."

Expert says postponement was the right decision

Dr. Christopher Pascoe, a respiratory researcher and associate professor at the University of Manitoba, said the league made the right call, but the decision could have come sooner.

"The air in Regina was bad," he said. "That level of air pollution is unhealthy for everybody, not just people with chronic disease or at-risk groups."

Pascoe said the risks for athletes is even greater due to the amount of air they inhale while playing.

"They're breathing at a higher rate with more volume. For a three-hour game, it would've been equivalent to smoking one to two cigarettes in the amount of particulate they'd breathe in."

While shifting winds can clear smoke out quickly, he said Friday's conditions likely weren't going to improve fast enough.

"A delay of a couple hours probably wasn't going to make a huge difference in air quality," he said. "It might have been better to make that decision earlier."