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Ivy League cancels fall sports season

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The Ivy League has informed its programs that fall sports have been canceled, the conference announced Wednesday.

"With the information available to us today regarding the continued spread of the virus, we simply do not believe we can create and maintain an environment for intercollegiate athletic competition that meets our requirements for safety and acceptable levels of risk, consistent with the policies that each of our schools is adopting as part of its reopening plans this fall," the Ivy League council of presidents said in a joint statement.

"We are entrusted to create and maintain an educational environment that is guided by health and safety considerations. There can be no greater responsibility - and that is the basis for this difficult decision."

Student-athletes who would be part of a sports team this fall won't use a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility.

Athletic training activities for students will be permitted if structured in accordance with each school's procedures and applicable state regulations. The schedule for winter activities will be updated at a later date.

The conference won't entertain any sports being played until January 2021, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Multiple Ivy League athletic directors haven't closed the door on football being held during the spring, Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reports.

This approach shouldn't be expected from FBS conferences with more prominent sports programs, as Ivy League schools aren't as financially dependant on athletic activities, according to Stadium's Brett McMurphy.

In March, the Ivy League canceled its conference basketball tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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