Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in informed remarks on Tuesday that if an NFL season – or college football season – takes place this fall it is “impossible” at this juncture, according to Sports The land of jets from Illustrated.com.
Fauci, speaking after previous comments he made in which he said soccer would need to enact a “bubble” format in order to move forward this fall, said the decision to play the season would come down to progress in declining cases in the current pandemic. COVID-19 and added his comments mentioned had been taken out of context.
“This fall’s situation will be dictated by the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States,” Fauci said. “Optimally, I would like to see the level of infection drop dramatically and good control over any evidence of a resurgence. Again, league officials in consultation with the players will make their own decisions.”
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Fauci previously said: “Unless the players are essentially in a bubble, cut off from the community and trying them on almost every day, it would be very difficult to see how football can be played this way. ” fall. If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year. “
In his most recent comments, Fauci added clarification and his belief that his words were taken out of context.
“My statements about the NFL season have been misinterpreted and taken out of context,” he said. “NFL officials asked me about the risks associated with various scenarios the NFL might face in consideration of the upcoming season. I provided advice from a public health point of view. The final decision is not mine but that of officials at the NFL and the players themselves.
“I simply provide data-driven advice and science. I certainly don’t make the call about whether or not a league can come back.”
In a continuing effort to combat the new coronavirus, the NFL Players Association released a statement on Saturday encouraging players to stop training in private groups. The statement came to the conclusion of a week in which players from the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tested positive for COVID-19.
NFL training camps will begin in late July.
In response to Fauci’s initial comments Thursday, NFL medical director Dr. Allen Sills said the league “will make the necessary adjustments to meet the public health environment as we prepare to play the 2020 season as per what was programmed “.
