Three More Sports Leagues Suspend Seasons Amid Coronavirus Concerns

Peter Verry
·4 min read

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Three more major sports leagues have halted their seasons amid coronavirus concerns.

Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League are the latest professional organizations to suspend competition.

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According to an ESPN report, MLB is expected to suspend the remainder of spring training as of today and will also delay the beginning of the regular season by at least two weeks, which had been scheduled to begin March 26.

MLS sent out a release today stating it has suspended match play for 30 days, effective immediately.

“Our clubs were united today in the decision to temporarily suspend our season — based on the advice and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and other public health authorities, and in the best interest of our fans, players, officials and employees,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in the statement.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced in a statement that it will pause the 2019–20 season, beginning with tonight’s games.

“The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures,” Bettman wrote in a statement. “However, following last night’s news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus — and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point — it is no longer appropriate to try and continue to play games at this time.”

Last night, the NBA announced that it has suspended the regular season. “The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight’s schedule of games until further notice,” the league said in a statement. “The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.”

The decision was made, according to the statement, after a player on the Utah Jazz has “preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.” Although the league revealed the team, the player’s name was not announced. Shortly after the statement was released, multiple reports stated that the player was Rudy Gobert.

Today, it was revealed that rising NBA star — and Gobert’s teammate — Donovan Mitchell has tested positive for the coronavirus. The news was first reported by ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski and Mitchell later confirmed it on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

Thanks to everyone who has been reaching out since hearing the news about my positive test. We are all learning more about the seriousness of this situation and hopefully people can continue to educate themselves and realize that they need to behave responsibly both for their own health and for the well being of those around them. I appreciate the authorities in Oklahoma who were helpful with the testing process and everyone from the @utahjazz who have been so supportive. I am going to keep following the advice of our medical staff and hope that we can all come together and be there for each other and our neighbors who need our help❤️🕷

A post shared by Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) on Mar 12, 2020 at 10:20am PDT

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