By: Luke Wang

Along the coast of the American Northeast, the famous athletic league, the Ivy league announced in their recent statement that their annual fall sports will be suspended this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We simply do not believe we can create and maintain an environment for intercollegiate athletic competition that meets our requirements for safety and acceptable levels of risk,” said the Ivy League Council of Presidents in their statement. The decision has been difficult but the council has decided to maintain an educational environment that is guided by health and safety considerations.”

This decision will affect not only football, but other sports including soccer, field hockey, volleyball and cross country. While affecting many sports, the league has not stated whether the sports will be moved to spring next year, linking possibly to the unpredictable future with the COVID-19 still in-place. Even though the Ivy League neither grants athletic scholarships or competes for an National Collegiate Athletic Association football champion, this decision has the potential to ripple outwards in the business world of college sports.

Despite the present setback, the council is still hopeful about the future. Dr. Chris Kratochvill, leader of the Big Ten’s infectious disease task force stated, “Clearly, regardless of what happens in the fall, sports are coming back eventually.” He also went on to state, “[W]e want to make sure that whenever that time (is)right to return to competition, that we have the infrastructure and the recommendations in place to be able to do so safely for the student-athletes, staff, coaches, fans, students.”

In conclusion, the COVID-19 is posing a huge challenge to the university communities. While the pandemic will end and sports will be back, it is still unsure when the sporting times will return to the college communities.