SIAC cancels fall sports due to COVID-19. Fountain City Classic won’t be played in 2020
The Fountain City Classic, featuring Albany State and Fort Valley State and played at Columbus’ A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium, will not be played in 2020.
The SIAC officially canceled all fall 2020 sports on Thursday, meaning both Albany State and Fort Valley State will not play football this year.
The decision, the SIAC said in a release, was primarily predicated on the “overarching concern shared by all SIAC member institutions with regard to the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, students, staff, fans and other campus stakeholders.”
“When the initial decision was made by the SIAC to suspend intercollegiate athletics last spring, the conference harbored a measure of cautious optimism in the hope that meaningful progress would occur in connection with the continued spread of coronavirus,” the release read.
“As of today, and as COVID-19 infections surge throughout the country in general and the southeastern region in particular, it would be difficult to fairly and responsibly conclude that meaningful progress has been made at this time.”
There is a possibility some fall sports, including football, could be moved to spring, according to the SIAC.
“The action taken by our conference to suspend fall sports was informed by a core desire on the part of our SIAC member institutions to make every effort to protect and mitigate COVID-19 related health and safety risk exposure to our students, coaches, and staff during this uncertain and unpredictable environment,” SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore said.
“It is our intention to seek eligibility relief for those student-athletes impacted by this interruption similar to that relief which was accorded to 2020 Spring sport student-athletes whose seasons were interrupted during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.”
