Saskatchewan Roughriders booked a ticket to the 112th Gray Cup on Saturday.but the BC Lions believe the touchdown that sealed the Western final for their opponent was anything but.
“I saw this about 30 minutes ago. Obviously it's not a catch,” general manager Ryan Rigmaiden told the media Sunday. “I think that’s all I have to say on the matter.”
The Riders went on a seven-play, 76-yard touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation to eliminate the Lions, capped by a three-yard pass from Trevor Harris to Tommy Nield in the front of the end zone. The Canadian receiver dropped low and intercepted the ball and defender Harry Peters flung himself over his back, giving Saskatchewan a 24-21 lead with 11 seconds on the clock.
TOMMY NEELD PUTS SASKATCHEWAN AHEAD WITH 11 SECONDS REMAINING! 😱😱😱 #CFL pic.twitter.com/sxTDSbUdNV
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 9, 2025
Although some questions were raised regarding the authenticity of the broadcast catch, the controversy was largely forgotten after the game. However, Lions owner Amar Doman caused a stir on Sunday when he shared two screenshots of the alleged move on his Instagram Story, appearing to show the football hitting the turf. The passionate businessman captioned the photo simply, “No catch.”
Veteran defensive end TJ Lee said he knew it was true when the play happened on the field and was surprised by the officials' decision.
“The players who were on the field watching our teams said he dropped the ball, so I believe he threw it. But the call was a call and he caught it?” he said, awkwardly emphasizing the word “effect.” “They won, and that's the most important thing.”
Like all scoring plays, Neeld's touchdown was reviewed by the CFL command center in Toronto to determine whether the correct call on the field was made. This review took an unusually long time before the specialization was confirmed. The replay judge can only overturn a call if it is “clear and obvious” that an error has occurred.
Despite Doman's footage showing the ball touching the ground, it is unclear whether Nield was in control of the ball when it happened. TSN's camera angles did not provide conclusive evidence that the tackle had not occurred: blurry footage, players' bodies and goalposts obscured the view. This led to the call being supported.
Defenseman Nathan Rourke, who ironically advocated for keeping the goalposts in front of the end zone where they intervened in this review, said he had yet to see the play in question. He hopes the command center made a smart decision.
“If the evidence had been in the video replay system because they looked at it, I think they would have overturned it,” Rourke said. “At this point, as much as we'd like to think that maybe we made a mistake or something, it's hard to change that right now.”
Head coach Buck Pierce also decided to delay his comment on the play, saying only that it was ruled an on-field touchdown. Catch or not, he doesn't believe the game came down to that one moment.
“There are a hundred or so decisive moments in a football game,” insisted Pierce. “Unfortunately, it all came down to the end there, but there were chances on both sides of the ball in all three phases that we didn’t convert.”
The Lions had several chances to win the Western Final, going two down twice in the final three minutes to emerge with a four-point lead. They also failed to stop Harris on his top pass with 1:03 left. Even if Neeld's catch had been ruled incomplete, the Riders would have had two more opportunities to score from the 3-yard line.
However, the fact that the validity of the points that kept them out of the Gray Cup was in any doubt added salt to the open wound.
“It's a terrible shame. There are guys who have been fighting all season to lose a game over something that maybe wasn't a catch,” Rigmaiden said.
“Look, hats off to Sask, their staff, their players – they've had a tremendous year. But nobody wants to lose a game like that. You don't want to lose a game, period, but especially like that. I just saw a picture of it maybe 30 minutes ago, so I'm just trying to process it. But it didn't look like a catch to me.”
Montreal Alouettes (12-8) and Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) will meet in the 112th Gray Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16th with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 pm EST.
The weather forecast for Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees, sun and clouds. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the US and CFL+ worldwide.
