Big Ten Amends its Forfeiture Policy

Ignatius L Hoops

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Messages
10,171
Reaction score
3,110
Points
113

As it stands, Big Ten teams who cannot play league games due COVID-19 are forced to forfeit the contest and take a loss.

With the efficacy of vaccines on the decline and new variants more transmissible, the conference announced on Wednesday it is reconsidering that policy.

“The Big Ten Conference is in the process of evaluating its 2021-22 Forfeiture Policy for conference contests, including whether a contest should automatically be considered a forfeit,” Big Ten Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Borchers said on Wednesday in a release.

“The health, safety, and well-being of our student-athletes and our campus communities is our top priority. We will continue to work diligently and collaboratively with the Big Ten Conference Administrators Council, Chancellors and Presidents, the Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Sports Medicine Committee to determine next steps.”

The Big Ten is widely expected to change its policy and allow for games to be rescheduled with certain caveats.

Other leagues have already made the move.

In the ACC, games that cannot be played will now be rescheduled if possible. If those games can’t be rescheduled, they will be considered a “no contest” that doesn’t affect a team’s record. Additionally, men’s and women’s teams must have a minimum of seven available players and one coach to play a game. If a team elects not to play despite having that available number, the game would then be considered a forfeit.

Similar rules have been adopted in the Big 12.

Last week The Daily Hoosier asked Trayce Jackson-Davis if the Big Ten should change its forfeit policy in light of the changing conditions.

“I don’t really think it’s necessarily fair for us to cancel or forfeit if we have the boosters and we’re trying to do everything to not get the virus and it just happens,” Jackson-Davis said.

Big Ten league play resumes on Jan. 2. No games have been forfeited to this point.
 


Forfeits are no longer automatic.

Big Ten basketball games impacted by COVID-19 cases will no longer be considered automatic forfeits, the league announced Tuesday.

The adjusted forfeiture policy for all remaining 2021-22 Big Ten contests allows the league to review every impacted game and determine whether it can be rescheduled, declared a no-contest or declared a forfeit. The Big Ten's initial policy called for teams impacted by COVID-19 to forfeit the impacted games.

"The conference office and all 14 Big Ten member institutions have been in continuous contact about developments related to COVID-19," Big Ten Conference commissioner Kevin Warren said in a prepared statement. "The well-being of our student-athletes and our entire athletic communities is our top priority and we are updating our forfeiture policy to support their health and safety as well as the integrity of conference competition."

The Big Ten will consider number of available athletes and coaches when determining what happens to games affected by COVID. Men's and women's basketball teams typically must have at least seven scholarship athletes and at least one coach available to play games, but Big Ten teams can play with lower numbers if approved by medical personnel.

Big Ten teams that have enough players and coaches still might choose not to compete, but would need to demonstrate compelling reasons to the league and its chief medical officer, Dr. James Borchers.

"A team that does not compete, and is unable to demonstrate why it is unsafe to compete, will be assessed a forfeiture," the Big Ten stated in a news release.

The Big Ten was the last of the seven major basketball conferences to amend its forfeiture policy.
 




Top Bottom