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Rob Ford Football Equipment Rejected By Don Bosco High School

High School Rejects His Donation
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 12: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford punts as he runs football practice at Don Bosco Secondary School after leaving City Hall before 2 pm in Toronto. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 12: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford punts as he runs football practice at Don Bosco Secondary School after leaving City Hall before 2 pm in Toronto. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Anybody want some football gear?

Looks like Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will have to donate his old equipment -- including helmets, pads and a full-sized football sled -- elsewhere after his gift was rejected by Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, the Toronto Sun reports.

The mayor descended on Don Bosco with City Hall staffers Friday to pick up his spurned donation after the school announced it would be buying new equipment, according to The Toronto Star.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) statement did not give a clear reason for letting Ford go other than to say it is "pursuing a different direction" and thanking Ford for his commitment to the team.

While the TCDSB has offered scant reason for sacking Ford, a spokesperson told CBC News the decision was "in no way related to the current allegations" of drug abuse.

The mayor has been the subject of ongoing controversy after several newspapers, including the Star, alleged that he appears in a video in which he appears to smoke crack cocaine. The U.S. website Gawker originally published the story on May 16, reporting that they had seen the video.

Instead, the school board spokesperson referred the CBC to an interview Ford gave to Sun News Network in which he allegedly described the Don Bosco community as "crime ridden" and neighbourhood youth as "gangbangers."

Ford's spokesman, Amin Massoudi, confirmed to the Toronto Sun that the mayor has retrieved his equipment, adding that Ford will be looking to start a football program at another school in the near future.

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