Connecticut is the first member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of football in the N.C.A.A., to declare it will not play the sport in the fall.
The University of Connecticut canceled its football season on Wednesday, becoming the first member of the Football Bowl Subdivision to abandon its schedule in full because of the coronavirus pandemic. Connecticut’s season was already in flux because of the decisions of leading conferences, including the Big Ten and Southeastern, to play exclusively within their leagues. By the time Connecticut announced its decision on Wednesday morning, a third of its planned games had been canceled. But in a statement, David Benedict, the athletic director at Connecticut, cited the pandemic’s perils, not scheduling complications, as the reason to drop plans for the season. “The safety challenges created by Covid-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk,” he said. “The necessary measures needed to mitigate risk of football student-athletes contracting the coronavirus are not conducive to delivering an optimal experience for our team.” In a statement released through the university, football players said they supported the decision, in part because “not enough is known about the potential long term effects of contracting” the virus.
