The Big Ten Tournament will go on as scheduled.
The Big Ten has announced that, as of now, conference tournaments and championships will proceed as planned amid concerns over COVID-19, more commonly referred to as the Coronavirus.
In a statement the conference announced, “The Big Ten Conference’s main priority is to ensure the safety of our students, coaches, administrators, event staff and fans as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus and its impact on hosting events in public spaces.
“At this time all Conference championships/tournaments will continue to be held as scheduled, and we will continue to consult with local and state public health departments, host facilities and the NCAA leading up to and during these events to implement best practices and provide the most current information.”
The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is planned to be held in Indianapolis from March 11-15. The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament started Wednesday, March 4 in Indianapolis and wraps up on Sunday the 8th.
Concern over the spread of COVID-19 has caused the cancelation of a number of large-scale events, including film and media festival South by Southwest in the United States. The NCAA Division III tournament is currently being played without fans at Johns Hopkins University and Stanford has limited the number of fans that can attend sporting events. In Italy fans have been completely banned from attending sporting events due to the spread of the disease.
The NHL has closed the dressing rooms to media members and other major sports are expected follow suit.
Starting today, @NHL will close dressing rooms to media, on recommendation of Centers for Disease Control (@CDCgov) in effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. NBA, MLB + MLS are expected to follow. Media availabilities will be conducted in formal press conference area.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 7, 2020
The Big Ten Network has announced their basketball studio crew will not be in attendance at the conference championships.
This is of course an evolving situation and we will have more updates from he conference when available.
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