Month: July 2020

A U.S. Senate committee hearing on Wednesday centered on athlete compensation veered into an aggressive inquiry about the coronavirus pandemic, which is provoking more pessimism from NCAA officials than they showed a month ago.

WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s voice rose. “Will you commit?” he kept asking. “Will you commit?”

Blumenthal wasn’t getting the answer he wanted. The Connecticut lawmaker’s question, directed toward one of the NCAA’s most prominent leaders, Ohio State president emeritus Michael Drake, was fairly straightforward: Will you, the chairman of the all-powerful NCAA Board of Governors, require athletic departments to disclose the number of positive virus cases among their athletes?

Drake tiptoed.

“That’s a HIPAA issue,” he claimed at first.

“I think that will be difficult,” he then said.

“I don’t know,” he later added, “that I have the authority…”

Finally, Drake bent to the questioning. “I believe it’s appropriate for the schools to report the cases.”

In an ironic twist, Ohio State, his own university, is one of the many schools refusing to disclose its viral case numbers. “General numbers, they should be reporting,” Blumenthal told Drake, ending one of the more tense exchanges that unfolded Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

What started out as a U.S. Senate committee hearing on student-athlete compensation materialized into an inquiry on college football’s latest quandary: the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to questions on name, image and likeness, lawmakers quizzed college athletic leaders about viral outbreaks impacting campuses across the country. They chastised those schools that are requiring athletes to sign waivers, insisted that the NCAA create a universal COVID-19 standard and as mentioned, lamented the lack of transparency among roughly half of the 130 FBS programs in declining to disclose their case numbers.

About a dozen senators, some virtually, took turns volleying questions toward a panel of five witnesses, including SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and Drake. While the hearing mostly centered on the raging debate on athlete compensation, a sidebar quickly formed: Lawmakers are curious about college football’s handling of virus-related matters. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), for instance, suggested that campus spikes in viral cases are rooted in the absence of a universal virus policy. “The NCAA should step in and provide a nationwide framework,” she said.

The hearing unfolded amid a pandemic that has reemerged in outbreaks across the country, putting college football’s plans for an on-time kickoff in doubt. At least five states have suspended reopening plans, and four college programs have temporarily shut down workouts because of outbreaks. At least 150 Division I players have tested positive for the virus, and that number is likely much larger, Blumenthal said Wednesday. Just in the last few days, at least two Power 5 football players have used Twitter to publicly question the decision from schools to return to voluntary summer workouts.

There is growing concern among officials. Athletic directors fear the potential for large numbers of athletes in quarantine, and officials are rekindling discussions about a spring football season. While he’s still focused on a Labor Day weekend kickoff, Sankey acknowledges the unprecedented events happening across campuses. “It’s certainly not comfortable to see what’s going on around us,” he told Sports Illustrated in an interview after the hearing.

A spring season remains one of several contingency plans that high-ranking college football officials are examining, according to Sankey. 

“When I’ve said we’re looking at contingencies, that’s always been one of those elements of 18-20 possibilities. You have to think about, ‘What will you know in January that will be different?’ It’s been difficult to predict. We have to be careful in our decision making. Even amidst the concerning data now, we want to make sure we take care of our young people first and then we’ll see what happens through July to make decisions.”

Sankey says a deadline date to determine if a football season can be played remains “unknown,” but he noted a “window” of time from now until the start of traditional camps, which begin the first week of August. Meanwhile, Carter’s optimism has waned.

“On June 1, I was really optimistic about everything, but I’m less optimistic today about a normal start,” he told SI after the hearing. “We may start on time but as far as what our crowds look like… This is going to be interesting over the next two to three weeks, because we have to put our foot on base.

“It’s time,” Carter continues. “We’re into July now. It’s time to decide ‘Hey, are we going to start on time or push this thing down the road?’”

On Wednesday, the Ivy League announced that it would make a decision on a 2020 football season by July 8. Already, at least four Division II and Division III programs have canceled their seasons, with many more likely on the way, administrators say. Many FBS officials describe a spring football season as a last resort, but the scenario is picking up steam among athletic directors. “I think that that was a scenario we talked about earlier on as we talked about all scenarios,” Carter says. “Obviously, it kind of died down as we brought student-athletes back, but I do hear that discussion being brought up more.”

On Wednesday, the pandemic hung over the committee room. Outside of lawmakers and the five panelists, only a small number guests were allowed, each separated by about six feet and, when not speaking, donning masks. Drake, who just moved this week into a post-presidency role at Ohio State, found himself on the receiving end of most of the virus-related questions from lawmakers. He told Rosen that the NCAA Board of Governors is discussing this week the prospect of a universal virus health/testing plan and that he supports such a move.

Drake and Blumenthal were involved in two uneasy exchanges — about schools’ lack of transparency in positive cases and regarding waivers that some schools are requiring their athletes to sign in order for them to work out. While many administrators — Drake included — says the documents aren’t legal waivers, others disagree. Blumenthal and Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) announced Tuesday that they had drafted legislation to prohibit colleges from having athletes sign the waivers. During the hearing, Blumenthal asked each panelist to respond in writing to his bill. Sports Illustrated explored the enforceability of these waivers in a story last month.

Blumenthal read aloud a passage from the Ohio State document, the Buckeye Pledge, that athletes and students will sign. “That is, in effect, a waiver, from my standpoint as a lawyer, “ Blumenthal said.

Drake insisted that athletes are not waiving their rights to sue by signing the forms. “I hope your lawyers agree with you,” Blumenthal said. Responded Drake: “I do too.”

Kansas has been accused by the NCAA of committing five Level I violations.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The NCAA’s infractions case against the University of Kansas men’s basketball program has been accepted into a newly created independent investigation process that was created to handle especially complex cases.

The Infractions Referral Committee said Wednesday that the case against the Jayhawks and coach Bill Self would go through the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. The approval is the first significant step in a process that was created in August 2018 to deal with select cases and minimize perceived conflicts of interest.

Kansas has been accused by the NCAA of committing five Level I violations, which are considered the most egregious, as part of the fallout of an FBI investigation into college basketball corruption. The case hinges on whether representatives of apparel company Adidas were acting as boosters when two of them arrange payments to prospective recruits.

The case against Kansas is the third to be accepted by the review panel. The NCAA’s case against James Wiseman and Memphis was the first and four violations involving North Carolina State and ex-coach Mark Gottfried was the second.

The club is supposed to open play in the MLS Is Back Tournament in Orlando on July 9.

Six players with FC Dallas have tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire team has been quarantined ahead of the MLS Is Back tournament.

The club confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the players tested positive upon arrival in Florida for the month-long tournament starting next week.

The team said all players and staff tested negative for coronavirus before leaving for the tournament on Saturday. Upon arrival, two players tested positive. Four more positive tests were uncovered in subsequent testing.

“In consultation with MLS medical officials, FC Dallas took proactive steps to isolate the newly affected players as well as all FC Dallas players and staff in Orlando out of an abundance of caution. All members of the club delegation are following MLS health and safety protocols and will remain quarantined in their hotel rooms pending the results of further COVID-19 testing,” the team said in a statement.

The names of the players were not released.

The league said that no other team has been in contact with the FC Dallas delegation since its arrival.

All of the league’s 26 teams are sequestered in hotels in advance of the tournament played without fans at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World. The tournament opens Wednesday.

MLS shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic on March 12, after the league’s teams had played two games.

The league said on Sunday that 18 players and six staff members had tested positive for the virus before teams departed for Orlando.

League protocol requires players and staff to be tested every two days upon arrival in Florida. Teams began traveling last week in advance of the tournament.

FC Dallas is scheduled to open the tournament with a group stage match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 9.

Christian Pulisic continued his good run of form, despite Chelsea dropping points against a relegation-threatened side.

Christian Pulisic wasn’t a lock to play on Wednesday, but he show no ill effects of a minor calf injury suffered over the weekend and continued his stellar run of form in a losing effort.

The 21-year-old U.S. national team and Chelsea winger started and was impactful for a fourth straight game, setting up his side’s two goals in a costly 3-2 defeat. The result, against a side battling relegation, leaves Chelsea just two points clear of Man United and Wolves for fourth in a heated race for places in next season’s Champions League. It’s compounded by the fact that Chelsea could have gone into third with a win, with Leicester City, a point ahead of the Blues, dropping points in a loss to Everton earlier in the day.

Nevertheless, it was a relatively bright day for Pulisic, from a personal standpoint. He drew a first-half penalty, drew a foul that led to a game-tying free kick, fired two dangerous shots just off target and had one sequence in which he set up two near-chances as part of a fully engaged, direct and confident display.

It follows his goal off the bench vs. Aston Villa, man-of-the-match showing and sensational solo goal vs. Manchester City and another strong effort in the FA Cup quarterfinals vs. Leicester. In that win, Pulisic came off as a precaution in the second half with a calf injury. Despite his recent and past injury history and the schedule congestion, it was perhaps a tad surprising to see him thrown back into the lineup, and even more surprising to have him go all 90 minutes. He remained sharp, though and was a key component to any success Chelsea enjoyed on the day.

In the 20th minute, he was positioned well to take advantage of Tammy Abraham’s dummy, curling his right-footed chance just wide of the mark.

As the match wound down toward halftime, Pulisic was at it again, drawing a clear penalty after being fouled by Issa Diop. Willian converted the spot kick to open the scoring.

In the 65th minute, after Chelsea had capitulated and conceded twice, he put two balls in dangerous spots, just out of the reach of teammates who could capitalize.

His influence over the match continued, though, as he won the foul some 23 yards from goal, which allowed Willian, again, to be the hero.

Pulisic won’t get credit for assists on either goal, nor was his day perfect. While his four shots were a team-high, none ultimately wound up on target. He looks increasingly confident by the match, though, and this continues to be his best extended run of form in his first season with the club.

Considering the heightened table stakes, the pressure will remain high on the American to keep delivering in Chelsea’s upcoming games, starting Saturday vs. Watford.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers says Lou Williams is expected to join the team for the NBA’s restart in Florida