The prospects for a college football season took a step back on Saturday morning.
Just days after the Big Ten conference announced a revised schedule for the 2020 season, the league issued a statement putting all football programs back in the first two days of the acclimatization period. In essence, this means that that teams are not permitted to have padded practices.
According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, the Big Ten presidents met today. Thamel indicated that there is some presidential momentum for canceling the fall football season.
The first Big Ten football game is scheduled for Sept. 3 when Ohio State travels to Illinois.
Today’s release from the Big Ten follows.
Big Ten Statement
The Big Ten Conference announced today, based on the advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, that, until further notice, all institutions will remain in the first two days of the acclimatization period in football (i.e., helmets shall be the only piece of protective equipment student-athletes may wear) as we continue to transition prudently through preseason practice. All other fall sports will continue to work locally with team physicians and athletic trainers to adjust practices to the appropriate level of activity, as necessary, based on current medical protocols.
Each new phase of activity provides new intelligence and experience and allows us to evaluate the implementation of our Conference and institutional medical protocols in real-time. In order to make the right health and safety decisions for our student-athletes, we believe it is best to continue in the appropriate phase of activity referenced above while we digest and share information from each campus to ensure we are moving forward cautiously.
We understand there are many questions regarding how this impacts schedules, as well as the feasibility of proceeding forward with the season at all. As we have consistently stated, we will continue to evaluate daily, while relying on our medical experts, to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes.
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