ACC officially cancels spring season

The ACC has officially cancelled all athletic activities through the end of the 2019-20 academic year, it announced Tuesday.

The announcement comes five days after the conference originally suspended all athletic activities indefinitely to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. But with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommending that gatherings of 50 or more people not occur for the next eight weeks, it became clear that no timeline in the near future would work for the conference’s spring athletes.

“Our top priority remains the health and safety of our student-athletes as well as our fans, communities and the overall well-being of others during these uncharted times,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “We are particularly disappointed for our student-athletes and will continue to work with our membership to assess what is appropriate in the future.”

Already preparing for the widespread cessation of its spring session, the NCAA announced last Thursday that it would grant additional eligibility for student-athletes participating in spring sports, namely track and field, softball and baseball.