NCAA President Mark Emmert said it will be hard to have college sports back for the fall if campuses nationwide aren’t open to all students.
In a ranging interview with Andy Katz on the NCAA’s official Twitter feed, Emmert said that in conversations with school administrators across the country, there seems to be a consensus that student-athletes and regular students should be governed by the same set of rules when it comes to COVID-19.
“All of the commissioners and every president that I’ve talked to is in clear agreement: If you don’t have students on campus, you don’t have student-athletes on campus,” Emmert said. “If a school doesn’t reopen, then they’re not going to be playing sports… We gotta keep all students, the coaches, their staff and everybody around them safe.”
Emmert also discussed steps needed to be taken in order for campuses to open, the different standards for re-opening between different geographical regions and conferences, among many other things. Emmert mentioned the idea of relaxing regulation related to athletic schedules–such as playing the same opponent twice or playing all games within the conference–was something that could be fair game as some schools open earlier than others. That would suggest that the 2020 football season could be a nimble operation unlike any we’ve ever seen.
NCAA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Hainline also joined the call to discuss specifics about ensuring athletes have enough time to prepare for their seasons and how that might be managed in different conferences across the country. He said multiple scenarios are being discussed on a minimum amount of time needed to prepare with four to six weeks as the most common guideline for football. Other fall sports may be require less time according to Hainline and Emmert.
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