Yale men, Princeton women get automatic NCAA berths as Ivy League cancels tournament

The Ivy League on Tuesday cancelled its men's and women's basketball tournaments and two other Division I conferences announced they will restrict fan access to their post-season games because of concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Ivy League's four-team tournaments were scheduled to be played Friday through Sunday at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge. The Ivy League instead will award its automatic NCAA Tournament bids to the regular-season champions, the Princeton women and Yale men.

Later Tuesday, the Mid-American Conference said it was implementing a restricted attendance policy at its men's and women's basketball tournaments in Cleveland this week. That announcement came on the heels of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommending that all indoor sporting events in the state be played without spectators on site.

The Big West said its men's and women's basketball tournaments in Southern California will be played without spectators. Most of those game will be played at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The Ivy tournaments are the first at the Division I basketball level to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Conference tournaments have been going on all over the country since last week at venues big and small. Most of the biggest conferences, such as the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, begin their men's tournaments this week at large arenas in major cities.

The NCAA men's and women's Division I tournaments begin next week. The NCAA responded quickly to the Ivy League's announcement, saying it planned to play its games at the scheduled sites with no adjustments to fan access, but is monitoring the situation.

"NCAA member schools and conferences make their own decisions regarding regular season and conference tournament play," NCAA president Mark Emmert said Tuesday in a statement. "As we have stated, we will make decisions on our events based on the best, most current public health guidance available."

A few hours later, after the governor of Ohio announced his recommendation for all high school college and professional teams to play without spectators in attendance, the NCAA released a another brief, less definitive statement.

"We are consulting with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel, who are leading experts in epidemiology and public health, and will make decisions in the coming days," the NCAA said.

The first four games of the NCAA men's tournament are scheduled to be played in Dayton, Ohio, and first and second-round games are scheduled for Cleveland on March 20 and 22.

The Ivy League also announced Tuesday it will limit spectators at all other sporting events for the rest of the spring season.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based league said the decision was made in "accordance with the guidance of public health and medical professionals to discourage and limit large gatherings on campuses in light of the coronavirus [COVID-19] situation."

Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said in a statement the league shares the disappointment of players and coaches.

"Regrettably, the information and recommendations presented to us from public health authorities and medical professionals have convinced us that this is the most prudent decision," she said.

The league said all tickets will be refunded and ticket holders with questions should contact the Harvard ticket office.

The women's tournament was scheduled to start Friday night, with top-seeded Princeton facing Columbia and No. 2 seed Penn facing Yale. The winners were to meet Saturday in the championship game.

The cancellation was not taken well by players and coaches of the teams. Columbia, which was to play in the tournament for the first time, was about to start practice when coach Megan Griffith shared the news.

"Their hearts are broken. Completely devastated. They should be," she said. "We understand there are health risks. This is not something to be lightly taken. We don't know what alternatives were discussed. It's hard to swallow."

The men's tournament was to begin Saturday with top-seeded Yale playing Penn, followed by No. 2 seed Harvard facing Princeton. The men's championship game was set for Sunday.

"It's a bittersweet moment for us," Yale spokesman Mike Gambardella said. "We're happy our men will get an [automatic bid], but disappointed that our women won't be able to compete for a championship."

Women's curling Worlds in B.C. still on despite virus

British Columbia's provincial health officer says the women's curling world championship in Prince George will go ahead as planned starting Saturday.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province and the Northern Health authority have been working with the event's organizers to limit the risk of coronavirus transmission.

Rinks from Japan, South Korea, China and Italy — all countries grappling with outbreaks of COVID-19 — will participate in the annual tournament at the 6,000-seat CN Centre.

The province conducts a detailed risk assessment for all large events.

That assessment includes examining the number of people coming, where the teams are coming from, where they've been before and the ability of the organizers to put protective measures in place.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says fans should stay home if they're feeling sick, adding that the event will be televised.

Spanish soccer league bars fans from games

La Liga matches will be played without fans for at least the next two rounds of fixtures to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Spanish league said on Tuesday.

The decision was taken in conjunction with the decision of the Spanish government's sports council (CSD) that professional and non-professional sports events and competitions should take place behind closed doors.

The first match affected is the clash between Eibar and Real Sociedad later on Tuesday at Ipurua Municipal Stadium, a game already postponed from Feb. 16 because of air contamination.

If the measure is not extended, the next round of matches with supporters will take place on the weekend of April 4-5.

Celta Vigo midfielder Denis Suarez wrote on Twitter: "Reflection: We play for the fans. Does it make sense to play without them?"

The Spanish Football Federation said they would consider postponing the Copa del Rey final between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad on April 18 if matches still need to take place behind closed doors by that point.