The Canadian government has denied the Toronto Blue Jays playing in the country this year because of safety concerns for players traveling to and from the United States as COVID-19 cases increase in the United States.
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said Saturday that the Canadian government would not allow the team to play at the Rogers Center, according to The Associated Press.
The Blue Jays received permission from the city of Toronto and provincial governments to play at their local stadium, but were still awaiting a decision from the federal government.
Mendicino said the main problem blocking games was the increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States.
“There were serious risks if we continued with the MLB and Jays’ regular season proposal and therefore concluded that it was not in the national interest,” Mendicino said. “I understand that some people will be disappointed, but this decision cannot be made as a fanatic. It is made in the name of the health and safety of Canadians.”
Cases in the US have risen to record daily highs, with the country registering more than 75,000 new cases in a single day on Thursday. The southern and western states have also broken their own records, with Florida and Texas records of more than 10,000 cases per day in recent weeks.
The other 29 MLB teams plan to play games without fans when the shortened 60-game season begins on July 23.
“Although our team will not be playing at home at the Rogers Center this summer, our players will take the field for the 2020 season with the same pride and passion representative of an entire nation,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in a statement. . “We can’t wait until the day comes when we can play in front of our fans again on Canadian soil.”
The team is slated to start the season on July 24 at Tampa Bay.
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