Photo Cred: NCAA on Twitter
The NCAA made an announcement Wednesday to hold the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments without fans because of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.”
NCAA President Mark Emmert statement on limiting attendance at NCAA events: https://t.co/TIHHJjdse5 pic.twitter.com/8I1HdceDfN
— NCAA (@NCAA) March 11, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak will have a serious effect on American sports. You can check out the breakdown of cancellations and postponements of sporting events thanks to CBS Sports.
College basketball
- NCAA president Mark Emmert has announce that all Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament games will be played in arenas without fans. According to Emmert’s statement, only “essential staff and limited family” will be allowed to attend.
- The First Four NCAA Tournament games slated for Dayton, Ohio and the first and second round tournament games scheduled for Cleveland will be played without any fans in attendance. This comes after Ohio governor Mike DeWine announced that mass gatherings will be prohibited in the state.
- The Big East tournament will limit locker room access to student athletes, coaches, and essential team personnel. Media will only have access in the postgame media interview
- The Ivy League canceled its conference tournament on Tuesday. Regular-season champions Yale (men’s) and Princeton (women’s) will earn NCAA Tournament bids. All practices and games through the remainder of the academic calendar will also be cancelled.
- The College Basketball Invitational Tournament has been canceled.
- The Atlantic 10 conference is suspending handshakes for its conference tournament.
- Chicago State basketball announced last week that it will not travel for its final two regular-season games.
- In Baltimore, a Division III men’s basketball NCAA Tournament game between Yeshiva University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute was held without a crowd due to coronavirus-related fears and is believed to be the first U.S. sporting event where fans were not allowed because of virus concerns. The only people allowed to attend were players, coaches, referees, employees and media members, so the official attendance was zero.
Read the breakdown of all the cancellations and postponements here: CBS Sports