Calgary Stampeders confirm signing of receiver Ajou Ajou

CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders have confirmed the team has signed receiver Ajou Ajou.

The CFL suspended Ajou on April 16 for the pre-season and for six regular-season games for violating its gender-based violence and harassment policy. The Saskatchewan Roughriders released him that same day.

The league reinstated Ajou with conditions Tuesday when it was also widely reported the Stampeders had signed the 24-year-old from Brooks, Alta.

The suspension followed a third-party investigation into allegations of aggressive and unwelcome physical contact with multiple women at a Regina restaurant on Nov. 18, 2025, which was also the day of the Grey Cup parade celebrating Saskatchewan’s victory two days earlier.

Ajou’s six-game suspension, which includes Calgary’s game Thursday against the Toronto Argonauts, means the soonest he could get on a game roster is Aug. 13 when the Stampeders host the B.C. Lions.

He is eligible to practice and attend team meetings at the club’s discretion.

“In addition to the extensive steps taken by the Canadian Football League leading up to Tuesday’s announcement about the conditional reinstatement of Ajou, the Stampeders have completed their own due diligence and player evaluation before arriving at the decision to sign the player,” the Stampeders said Wednesday in a statement.

“Given the extensive league conditions, the team believes in providing Ajou with a second chance at this time and expects him to demonstrate the qualities of a good teammate and upstanding member of the organization and the community.”

The CFL said Ajou’s return is conditional without specifying what those conditions are, but he faces a potential lifetime ban from the league if he violates its gender-based policy again.

The Stampeders announced his signing Wednesday afternoon.

Head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson wouldn’t comment on reports of Ajou’s signing at the morning walkthrough, but referred to an impending statement from the team.

Ajou had 22 catches for 212 yards in eight regular-season games for the Roughriders last season after he was released by the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 26.

The six-foot-three, 218-pound receiver caught two passes for 13 yards in the Grey Cup win over the Montreal Alouettes.

Ajou was drafted by the Roughriders in the seventh round of the 2024 CFL Draft. He’s had 42 catches for 519 yards and two touchdowns in 20 regular-season games for Saskatchewan.

Ajou was reinstated after he participated in 15 mandatory counselling sessions with a gender-based violence expert, underwent a psychological assessment by another independent expert and met with league commissioner Stewart Johnston, according to the CFL.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2026.

The Canadian Press