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The impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) is painfully clear to most people by now. Schools, restaurants, bars, theaters, most everything it seems is closed or limited in the amount of people that can gather together.
It is a tough time for everyone and the news has been changing rapidly. While we cover KC area teams (Sporting Kansas City, Sporting KC II, Kansas City Comets), we wanted to centralize the info and keep it current. Not just on Kansas City teams but all around soccer and other Kansas City sports as well.
We will add additional links and information.
Important links:
Major League Soccer
- FIFA may allow five substitutes when/if play resumes. No word on if Peter Vermes will use even three (just kidding!) - April 27th
- The training moratorium is now through May 15th. - April 23rd
- According to the Portland Timbers GM, individual teams may return to training at different times. That hardly seems fair. - April 23rd
- According to Pablo Maurer, MLS will likely announce June 8th is the earliest date they will return. - April 15th
- California Governor Gavin Newsom is unlikely to allow mass gatherings (100+) until their is a vaccine. Reports are 12-18 months for that. - April 14th
Governor Newsom just said mass gatherings of 100s+ people are extremely unlikely until there's a vaccine. So the concert industry is effectively cancelled for at least a year. I wonder how this will transform the music industry. Zoom/IG Live concerts forever seems pretty limiting
— Nastia Voynovskaya (@nananastia) April 14, 2020
- MLS was hoping for a mid-May return but they concede that’s unlikely - April 14th
MLS Statement on Return to Play pic.twitter.com/BKuFw9Mb17
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) April 14, 2020
- MLS still plans to play entire 34-game season - March 24th
- MLS Suspends season until at least May 10th
- MLS suspends season for 30 days - March 12th
NWSL
- NWSL Training Moratorium until at least May 5th. - April 4th
- The NWSL season could return by the end of June - April 1st
- 2020 preseason match schedule canceled, reviewing regular season schedule - March 12th
CONCACAF
Concacaf suspended all competitons over the next 30 days from March 13th including:
- 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League
- 2020 Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifiers
- First Round of the Concacaf 2021 Gold Cup Qualifiers (due to be played in the March 2020 FIFA Window)
- 2020 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield
- 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championships, originally scheduled for April 18 to May 3 in Toluca, Mexico.
- 2020 Concacaf Futsal Championships, originally scheduled for May 1 to May 10 in Guatemala.
US Soccer
- US Soccer is pausing their youth national team programs until 2021. The pause impacts “the Under-15, U-16, U-18 and U-19 teams on both the men’s and women’s sides, as well as the women’s U-23 team.” However, “the U-17 and U-20 men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the men’s U-23 national team are not affected by the pause.” - April 16th
- The Summer Olympics are postponed until the summer of 2021 - March 24th
US Women’s National Team
US Men’s National Team
US Open Cup
- The US Open Cup may not happen in 2020. The USL is potentially out of it. The tournament requires all their pro-teams to appear but it doesn’t account for this. - April 10th
- Temporarily suspended the 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.
US Soccer Development Academy
- Suspended all Boys’ and Girls’ regular season matches through the end of April, and canceled the 2020 Allstate Development Academy Spring Cup to be held April 29-May 4 in Kansas City and Greensboro
- MLS Cancels the GA Cup that was scheduled for April 4-11 in Frisco, Texas. Forty youth soccer academies from 11 countries were set to take part in this year’s edition.
Major Arena Soccer League
USL Championship
- The USL is “modeling a return to play in July.” - April 10th
- Suspension of play extended through May 10th
- Training moratorium extended through April 19th - April 2nd
USL League One
- Start of season delayed through May 10th
- Training moratorium extended through April 5th - March 20th
USL League Two
- Kaw Valley FC and the USL League Two Heartland Division look to go on with just five teams in 2020 - April 10th
- USL 2 scheduled to start on May 8th.
- Kaw Valley FC postponed tryouts
NISA
- The National Independent Soccer Association has cancelled their Spring season and they hope to return in the fall. - April 27th
NPSL
Youth Soccer
Liga MX
- Liga MX will suspend promotion and relegation for the next five years - April 17th
- They played their last matches over the weekend behind closed doors and then suspended play. The measure will remain in place until further notice and the resumption of play will be decided in co-ordination with the federal government’s health secretariat.
Premier League
- The Premier League has until May 25th to submit a plan to restart the season to UEFA. - April 28th
- Suspended until further notice
- The EFL Championship and below in England are looking to play games starting June 6th. The Prem is also hoping for closed door games in June. - April 13th
Interesting news out of England today that the leagues below the @premierleague plan on playing games June 6th. @JonChampionJC with the latest. #BanterTT pic.twitter.com/Z2tSlXJawP
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) April 13, 2020
Bundesliga
- The German government has banned football matches until August 31st, but they can be played behind closed doors still - April 15th
- The league plans to return by the “beginning of May” with the season to be finished by the end of June - April 8th
- Bundesliga and Budesliga 2 are suspended. - March 16th
La Liga
- The season has now been suspended indefinitely - March 23rd
Serie A
- Indefinitely suspended. - March 9th
Ligue 1
National Hockey League
Major League Baseball
- MLB suspends preseason and will delay the start of the season - March 16th
- The MLB could start the season “as early as May” with an ambitious plan to play all 30 teams in the Phoenix area since they have 10 spring training stadiums, the Diamondbacks stadium and “other nearby fields.” - April 6th
National Basketball Association
- Teams are permitted to re-open facilities on May 8th - April 28th
- Season suspended until further notice - March 12th
XFL
- Season canceled, players free to sign with NFL and CFL - March 20th
- The XFL suspended operations and likely will cease to exist - April 10th
International
- The Women’s EURO’s are officially postponed until 2022 - April 23rd
Last Updated on 4/27/2020. Originally published March 20th.