The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday that it will postpone its 2020-2021 season, citing health and safety concerns around the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff,” said Morton Schapiro, chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors and Northwestern University president said in a statement posted to the conference’s website.
The announcement applies to men’s and women’s cross country, football, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball.
The Big Ten is the first of college football’s Power Five conferences to decide against playing this fall. The conference, which consists of 14 schools across 11 states, including the University of Maryland, left open the possibility of playing in the spring and said it had not made a decision regarding winter sports.
“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in the statement.
He went on, “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”
Among those concerns is a rare heart condition that may be linked to coronavirus and was found in at least five Big Ten athletes, as well as players in other conferences, ESPN reported. The condition, myocarditis, can result in heart damage or sudden cardiac arrest if left untreated.
The Big Ten had previously announced in July that it would move to a “conference-only” schedule.
In a separate statement, UMD athletics director Damon Evans said, “The decision announced today by the Big Ten Conference was made in the best interests of the health, safety, and well-being of our student-athletes. I know that for our student-athletes, returning to campus in the fall is synonymous with the opportunity to compete at the highest level in the sport they love.”
He added, “Not being able to compete this fall is disappointing for all of us, but I have every confidence they will remain resilient and strong in these trying times. We will continue to support every one of them and will work diligently with university leadership, local and state officials, and the conference to make every effort to provide competitive opportunities for our student-athletes.”
The announcement comes as other local sports have made rocky returns to playing as the pandemic rages on. The Washington Nationals returned to an empty stadium last month, and amended its game schedule after players for the Miami Marlins, who they were set to play, tested positive for COVID-19.
The UMD’s football program and the soccer team D.C. United also faced road blocks last month, and the Patriot League, which includes Georgetown University football and other D.C.-area sports programs, announced the cancellation of its fall plans.
