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Ivy League cancels all sporting events for remainder of spring over coronavirus concerns
By SDS Staff
Published:
On Tuesday, the Ivy League announced the cancellation of its men’s and women’s conference basketball tournaments over coronavirus concerns. The league has now taken a giant step forward, canceling all remaining sporting events on the spring semester calendar, including baseball, lacrosse and track.
With further developments in the outbreak of COVID-19, the Ivy League Presidents are announcing their unanimous decision to cancel all spring athletics practice and competition through the remainder of the academic year,” an Ivy League statement read.
As for basketball, which takes place in both the winter and spring semesters, the league is leaving that up to individual schools:
Individual institutions will decide whether or not winter teams and student-athletes who have qualified for postseason play will participate.
“In accordance with the guidance of public health and medical professionals, several Ivy League institutions have announced that students will not return to campus after spring break, and classes will be held virtually during the semester. Given this situation, it is not feasible for practice and competition to continue,” the statement continued.
As for men’s college basketball, Yale is the Ivy League’s regular-season champion and will get the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Harvard was set to host the conference tournament and had defeated Yale in two head-to-head regular-season games.
The Ivy League does not allow athletes to participate as graduate students. According to Dana O’Neil, the Ivy League will reportedly seek a “blanket waiver/extra year” for all spring sport athletes with the season now canceled.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
