The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has put sports on hold indefinitely, and as it’s nearly impossible to accurately predict when it will be “safe” to return to our normal lives, it’s possible that we may not see fans in stadiums for quite a long time. Some leagues have been formulating plans to operate in isolated environments without fans in the meantime, but opinions are mixed over whether it would be safe and feasible for leagues to move ahead amid a nationwide shutdown.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith questioned the idea of college football returning this fall in empty stadiums earlier this week, noting that if it has been determined that it’s unsafe for fans to gather, it logically may not be safe for teams to gather, either. Alabama head coach Nick Saban joined ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday and reacted to Smith’s point, and argued that there needs to be a plan to return to normalcy eventually, and even if fans aren’t allowed to attend, programs would have an easier time managing a smaller group of players and staff members. Saban also said that he’s not qualified to determine when football should resume, and that it should strictly be a “medical decision.”
“It’s a hypothetical circumstance or situation right now to make predictions about what’s going to happen in the fall, but look, we would never want our players to be put in a situation where they’re not going to be safe. But I do think if we come up with some solutions we’ll be able to manage smaller groups. Like, for instance, we could test all of our players, and we could have some protocol for every day that they come in the building as to whether they’re healthy or going to infect somebody else. Now, when you’re talking about fans, that’s probably a more difficult circumstance and situation to try to control.
We’ve got a lot of smart people out there. They all have player safety, player well-being, the best interest of the players in mind, just like we do in our programs. So we don’t ever want to put them in harm’s way, but I think there has to be some plan at some point in time to try to get people back to normal. And I know that’s going to be a difficult transition for us, but something that we’re all trying to contribute to a safe a healthy way to do that.”
