Bombers kicker Castillo blames microchipped footballs for accuracy woes

 

There is a kicking issue in the CFL after just one game of the 2024 season.

The Blue Bombers lost their season-opening 27-12 at home to the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night, and kicker Sergio Castillo of Winnipeg took issue with the league's chipped footballs.

Castillo failed on his single try at a conversion and on two of his three field goals in the game, which came from 38 and 40 yards out.

With 46 of 51 field goals made in the previous season, the 33-year-old set a club record with an accuracy percentage of 90.2%.

In order to assist in producing real-time advanced statistics through Genius Sports, its data and technology partner, the CFL has placed microchips into its footballs.
However, numerous CFL kickers—including Brett Lauther of Saskatchewan, who also serves as the vice-president of the CFL Players Association—have claimed that the chips have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of their kicks.

Kicker David Côté of Montreal converted one, but missed the other from 22 and 19 yards out.