The annual NCAA men and women’s basketball tournament, March Madness, has been officially canceled due to the concerns raised from the COVID-19 epidemic.
The NCAA likewise has dropped different titles to be played in the winter and spring and school baseball World Series that was set for June. This decision will also affect basketball tournaments for Division I, II and III schools.
The NCAA, in a statement released on Thursday 12th March, stated that this choice depends on the advancing Covid-19 general wellbeing risk, the capacity to guarantee the occasions does not add to the spread of the epidemic, and the difficulty of facilitating such occasions whenever during this scholastic year given progressing choices by different substances.
One day before the NCAA settled on its choice, there were plans for the competition to be held in void fields without fans. Yet, around a similar time that call was made, tournaments like the Big East, Big 10, Big 12, The ACC, SEC and Pac 12 dropped their title competitions.
Authorities from Duke University recently had communicated they would not play in March Madness if NCAA plans were to proceed with the competitions.
The NCAA’s choice comes under 24 hours after the NBA suspended the remainder of its 2019-2020 season when the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert tried positive for the coronavirus. His partner Donovan Mitchell tried positive too.
Also, on Thursday, Major League Baseball said it’s dropping the rest of spring preparing and will delay opening day for in any event two weeks due to the coronavirus.
The NHL likewise suspended its current season for a similar explanation, as Major League Soccer.
After news about March Madness being canceled came, a few mentors shared that they did not concur with the choice and thought it should have been deferred. Gonzaga’s coach Mark Few explained that he felt the competition should have been shifted to May, and if need be for it to be canceled, only then should it be canceled.
This is the first run through the Division I title has been canceled since it started in 1939.
