The decision was among several that disrupted the sports world as infections from the virus increased. The coronavirus outbreak provoked a wave of disruption across the American sports landscape on Tuesday as the Ivy League canceled its basketball tournaments and government officials pressed fans and athletic leagues to reconsider their plans for events that routinely draw thousands of people. The decisions and warnings, on a day when the number of infections in the United States raced past 1,000 and the death toll increased, suggested that the sports industry stood at the brink of a protracted upending that could affect millions of fans and potentially cost cities and organizers hundred of millions of dollars in revenue from canceled events. “We understand and share the disappointment with student-athletes, coaches and fans who will not be able to participate in these tournaments,” Robin Harris, the Ivy League’s executive director, said in a statement.
“Regrettably, the information and recommendations presented to us from public health authorities and medical professionals have convinced us that this is the most prudent decision. ” The Ivy League, which also said it had ordered “highly restrictive, in-venue spectator limitations for all other upcoming campus athletic events,” reached its decision after a range of other sporting events — including soccer games in Europe, international championships in Asia and Olympic-sports tournaments in the United States — were canceled, postponed or played without spectators. The Big West and Mid-American Conferences said on Tuesday evening that their basketball tournaments would be played as scheduled this week, but that the general public would not be allowed to attend. And there were renewed indications on Tuesday that governments would be willing to step in to discourage major events, including athletic competitions, despite the revenue they provide.
“The greatest risk is if there’s a large number of people who are in contact closely with each other, large public gatherings,” said Thomas Farley, the Philadelphia health commissioner, who recommended that residents stay away from events with more than 5,000 people. “We are not canceling those gatherings, but we are recommending that people not attend. ” In Ohio, where the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s men’s basketball tournament is scheduled to hold its first games on March 17, Gov. Mike DeWine said health officials had recommended that observers be prohibited from attending any indoor competitions.
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“This is the advice that was given to the high school athletic association, the colleges and the professional teams,” DeWine told reporters in Columbus. Before the governor made his comments, the N. C. A.
A. said that it intended for its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which are to involve games in dozens of cities through early April, to proceed as originally planned. “N. C.
A. A. member schools and conferences make their own decisions regarding regular season and conference tournament play,” the association’s president, Mark Emmert, said in a statement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he noted, had not “advised against holding sporting events.
” “In the event circumstances change, we will make decisions accordingly,” he said. In a statement later Tuesday, the N. C. A.
A. said it was still assessing the effects of the coronavirus on tournaments and would “make decisions in the coming days. ” College sports executives have been studying options for the basketball tournaments as the virus has spread to more states. In interviews in recent days, N.
C. A. A. officials described a menu of choices — including consolidating the number of event sites and blocking spectators from attending — but stopped short of making dramatic changes to the tournaments.
The officials have also insisted that they would not be guided by fear and would take only so many cues from other organizations that have canceled major events. “We’re aware that this is happening, and we’re always paying attention to what’s going on and trying to understand the decision-making process that others are using because we’re trying to primarily gather scientific data and also understand what other people in other countries have to bring to bear,” Vivek H. Murthy, a former U. S.
surgeon general who is a member of the N. C. A. A.
’s top governing body, said in an interview on Saturday. “But that said,” he continued, “what we’re cautious about is that we don’t want to decisions based on panic, and we don’t want to make them solely based on what organizations are doing. ” Much of the money related to the tournaments stems from television rights deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but the economic consequences could be wide-ranging if fans cannot buy tickets or do not fill hotels and restaurants in the cities where games are to be played.
“Still, Tuesday’s recommendations from health officials could prompt action from the N.”
C. A. A. , whose stance was already in contrast with decisions by some of its most influential member universities.
On Monday evening, Ohio State, whose president is the chairman of the N. C. A. A.
’s top governing body, said it would cancel in-person classes until at least March 30. Other universities, including Stanford and Washington, have also announced changes to academic schedules, raising the possibility that athletes across the country could be asked to play while being kept out of their classrooms. Harvard, which was to host the Ivy League basketball tournaments, moved on Tuesday to limit gatherings, pivoted to online classes and advised its students not to return to the Cambridge, Mass. , campus after spring recess, which begins Saturday.
Harris, the Ivy League’s executive director, said in an interview that the presidents of the conference’s members had decided to cancel the basketball tournaments after weighing an array of alternatives. Those options, she said, included limiting capacity to allow for “social distancing,” as Stanford has done at its sporting events; playing in front of only essential personnel and a limited number of team guests; and playing without spectators. The presidents also considered playing without any restrictions. In the end, they made the starkest choice, leaving the regular-season champions — Yale in men’s basketball and Princeton in women’s — poised to advance to the national tournaments.
“The presidents wanted a proportionate response that would mitigate the spread of the virus,” Harris said. “They’re doing that on their own campus with other events, so how could we justify treating the basketball tournaments differently? ” Still, Bryce Aiken, a senior guard at Harvard who has been injured most of the season, took to Twitter to express his outrage over the cancellation. “Horrible, horrible, horrible decision and total disregard for the players and teams that have put their hearts into this season,” Aiken wrote.
He added that the move was “wrong on so many levels” and that the Ivy League “should do its due diligence to find a better solution. ” Harris said that whether the Yale men and Princeton women would go to the N. C. A.
A. tournaments was contingent on university policies, and that if they chose not to go, the second-place teams would be eligible. A spokesman for Yale, Mike Gambardella, said in an email that “while this is an extremely fluid situation, we are preparing right now to play in the N. C.
A. A. tournament. ” Princeton did not immediately say whether its women’s team would play and said that “all policies regarding athletics activities are subject to change based on the ongoing review of circumstances.
” “We understand that the well-being and safety of the teams, coaches and fans was at the heart of the decision made to cancel the Ivy League basketball tournaments,” Carla Berube, the women’s basketball coach at Princeton, said in a statement. “At the same time, our team is disappointed to not have the opportunity to compete this weekend alongside our fellow competitors. ” Some Ivy League schools said Tuesday that they would impose sharp restrictions around athletic events. Columbia said that its spring sports teams would continue to play, but that attendance would be limited to essential staff — no parents, family, students, spirit groups or members of the general public.
Spring sports teams will continue to travel, but athletes can choose not to. Cornell said it would not allow fans to attend postseason hockey games that were scheduled for its campus this weekend. Beyond the Ivy League, other N. C.
A. A. conferences announced less drastic measures. The Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences, for instance, said they would bar reporters from locker rooms at their basketball tournaments this week.
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