A spokesman for Jackson State announced late Friday evening that the game scheduled for Saturday between Jackson State and Grambling had been canceled.
Wesley Peterson, the spokesman for JSU told news agencies that officials at Grambling had contacted the school to let them know of the decision made by officials at Grambling.
Grambling players refused to travel for the game to Mississippi, as they were disgruntled. Will Sutton a spokesman for Grambling, said earlier in the day via a text message that no forfeit would be taken. He said officials at Grambling were going to determine what was the next step to be taken.
Earlier in the day, officials at Grambling tried to work out something that would allow the game to be played. However, officials and the disgruntled players could not agree on a viable solution.
Duer Sharp, the Commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference said prior to the final decision not to play the game, that if Grambling is not at the site of the game on Saturday, it would be forced to accept a forfeit and would be fined.
The apparent boycott by players was the latest in an upheaval that has lasted for three days for this proud football program at Grambling.
A number of media outlets reported that the players did not participated in practice on Wednesday or Thursday. The players apparently were not happy with issues regarding the football program and the leadership of the school.
This season Grambling, which is winless at 0-7, has changed its coaches twice over a period of two months. After two games of the season, former Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams was fired. George Ragsdale replaced Williams, but he was reassigned on Thursday and Dennis Dirt Winston replaced him on Friday.
Jackson State has homecoming this weekend and the canceled game will hurt tremendously the finances. Usually the matchup between rivals Jackson State and Grambling draws large crowds. In 2011, over 21,000 saw the game in Jackson.
Deborah Campbell
