Should the NCAA Enforce Universal Coronavirus Reporting Standards?
As NCAA officials spoke on Capital Hill last week in front of a congressional committee, it was hard for anyone listening to express much optimism about the coming season.
According to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger there were several contentious moments during the meeting,
The U.S. Senate committee asked multiple questions about universal reporting standards for positive coronavirus tests as some schools have conducted them in secret while others are making results public.
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.
After the end of the hearing SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discussed just a few of the many different plans universities have crafted in hopes of getting in a football season that will be crucial to most athletic departments' budgets.
“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.”
