Sports Teams Being Disbanded Due to COVID-19

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic isn't going to end any time soon and with that being said, sports, both in the country and overseas, will not be back until 2021, to say the least. While the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will wait until August to decide whether to revert to a one-conference season or scrap the whole thing, we should manage our expectations as even if the government does allow basketball games to be held behind-closed-doors, there'll always the risk of infection and contamination especially with no vaccine still in sight.

And if you think that sports leagues are the ones being affected by the indefinite hiatus that they are current at, there's no one affected more by this shut down of sports other than the teams and players themselves. And this pandemic has already forced some teams to disband themselves with some even withdrawing from leagues.

Stating that the decision was "an inevitable circumstance waiting to happen", the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) has decided to cease all operations related to their varsity teams which included their basketball team that has become a major fixture in the PBA D-League and has even reached the semifinals in 2019. And that's not the only school that was forced to downsize their athletic operations.

Just a few weeks ago, Colegio de San Juan de Letran has decided to trim down their athletic operations and has withdrawn from nine National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and among those events from which the school who is celebrating its 400th anniversary, is volleyball. Incidentally, Letran is set to host Season 96 of the NCAA.

While other teams from the NCAA and even from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) have yet to make a decision on whether or not they will follow the lead of TIP and Letran, fans shouldn't be surprised if their teams are to be dissolved this year as the leagues aren't even counting out the possibility of canceling their events for this year.  If more teams follow suit, it's for the best of everyone especially for the players. 

Photo is from SPIN.ph