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Ohio state canceled Saturday’s soccer game in Illinois due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Buckeyes No.4 program and suspended all team-related activities indefinitely after the revelation of additional positive tests Friday evening, the school said.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, University President Kristina M. Johnson and Chief Team Physician Dr Jim Borchers have made the decision to cancel the game and to suspend activities in consultation with the Big Ten Conference.
The game was called off just hours after the state of Ohio announced that coach Ryan Day had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in isolation.
“We have continued to see an increase in positive tests during this week,” Smith said in a statement Friday night. “The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes is our primary concern, and our decisions regarding their well-being will continue to be guided by our medical staff.”
The program will resume activities for its team when its medical staff determine it is safe to do so based on the protocols established by the Big Ten conference.
This is the second Ohio State game (4-0) canceled this season as the Buckeyes were unable to play on Nov. 14 in Maryland due to COVID-19 in the Terrapins’ schedule. For Ohio State to play in the Big Ten Championship game, it must play – and win – its last two regular-season games, Dec.5 at Michigan State and Dec.12 at home against rival Michigan.
If the average number of Big Ten games drops below six, teams must play no fewer than two fewer conference games than the average number of Big Ten games played by all teams to count towards the championship. of the league. The champion will be determined in each division by their winning percentage, unless there is an imbalanced schedule due to the cancellation of matches.
The college football qualifiers have not set a threshold for a minimum number of games to be played to advance to a semi-final this year. If the state of Ohio – or any other PSC candidate – is unable to make it to their conference championship game due to cancellations, that doesn’t mean he would be out of the discussion. on the PSC, but it would not have the title of conference as such. tiebreakers used by the committee when teams are comparable.
Early Friday afternoon, the state of Ohio had always planned to fly to Champaign, Ill. On Saturday morning for its noon ET game against the Illini. The school had confirmed “an increase in the number of positive tests this week for the coronavirus”, after a new round of daily tests Friday morning. All team members – including coaches and support staff – then performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on Friday afternoon “out of caution to ensure all trip participants are confirmed negative for the coronavirus, “according to a press release.
The school announced the cancellation of the game after additional testing. According to the school, the state of Ohio has “consistently recorded nearly 0% positivity since Aug. 11”.
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