Ivy League cancels tournaments as COVID-19 precaution

The American Athletic Conference plans to hold the men’s basketball tournament later this week where Temple men’s basketball will play Southern Methodist.

Updated at 8:01 p.m. on March 10.

On Tuesday, the Ivy League announced it would not hold the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments scheduled to take place later this month as a precaution to the outbreak of COVID-19, a respiratory disease spreading across the world and United States. 

This decision affects the University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League will also limit spectators at all sporting events for the immediate future, it announced in a statement.

The NCAA’s COVID-19 advisory panel does not recommend canceling sporting events at this time, though it allows member leagues and individual schools to make their own decisions regarding sporting events, it announced in a statement on Twitter. 

The NCAA later said it is consulting experts and will make decisions regarding upcoming tournaments “in the coming days,” it wrote in a statement.

On Monday, the Hartford Courant reported The American Athletic Conference plans to hold the Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament on March 12-15 in Fort Worth, Texas. Temple men’s basketball is the 10th seed in the tournament and will play Southern Methodist at 8 p.m. on Thursday. 

The American has lifted the requirement that teams shake hands following the conclusion of a game. 

At this time, all Temple sporting events are set to be played as scheduled. 

The Big West Conference announced Tuesday on Twitter that spectators will not be permitted to attend its basketball championship games as a preventative measure. The women’s tournament begins tonight, and the men’s tournament will start tomorrow. The Big West has nine member schools in California and Hawaii.

Tuesday afternoon, the University of California, Los Angeles’ athletics department released an update on its precautionary measures. UCLA home sporting events will not permit fans until at least April 10. Only essential personnel, identified as student-athletes, coaches, medical staff, game officials, administrative staff and media, will be permitted at UCLA games. Teams will continue to travel and compete, though athletes have the right to opt out of participation. 

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