The Ivy League has canceled its winter sports for the 2020-21 season because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced Thursday.
There also is no guarantee spring sports will be held as the conference is postponing those sports until at least the end of February. The league also said it will not conduct the fall sports during the spring.
The Ivy League Council of presidents unanimously made these decisions.
“The Council will continue to closely monitor and evaluate the public health climate and consider changes to policies when warranted in order to return to more normal campus operations, including potential spring intercollegiate athletics competition,” the Ivy League said in a release.
Winter and fall sport student-athletes will not lose a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility.
“Throughout the last nine months, we have asked our campus communities to make extraordinary adjustments in order to do our part in combating the global pandemic and to safeguard the health and well being of our students, faculty members, staff and the communities in which they live and work,” the Ivy League Council of Presidents said in a joint statement. “Regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics competition in a safe manner.”
Though other major conferences are playing college football, the Ivy League has not held fall sports because of the pandemic, and it was the first Division I conference to make that announcement.
