COLUMBUS, Ohio – An organization of State Midwest lawmakers is asking the Big Ten to cancel the fall football season.
A letter sent Tuesday to Commissioner Kevin Warren of Lee Chatfield, president of the Michigan House of Representatives, and signed through nine other state legislators.
They represented six states in the geographic footprint of the conference and Ohio State Senator Matt Huffman, a Republican who is the leader of the majority.
“After listening to many students, parents, and coaches involved, they encouraged us to express our desires and our duty to protect students’ long-term educational and professional interests,” the letter says.
He called on the league to work with school principals to allow all fall sports to be played in the coming months, referring to the “overwhelming” of players, parents, coaches and fans.
The Big Ten announced on August 11 a postponement of the football season due to fitness disorders and pitfalls surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. Control of the conference also expressed a preference for postponing games until the spring semester. The resolution generated significant negative reactions, especially among the conference’s maximum classic systems.
Relatives of players from the state of Ohio and Michigan organized protests on their campuses. Eight Nebraska players filed a lawsuit for the postponement, damages and alleging that the league violated a contract by not complying with their master documents by voting to cancel an autumn season.
While the Pac-12 followed big ten in scrapping games this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, primary conferences were held, adding the Atlantic coast, Big 12 and southeast, with plans to play as soon as this weekend.
Other groups of the Group of Five meetings also began during Labor Day weekend, cases identified through lawmakers in the letter.
Also last week, the Pac-12 announced a partnership with a health care diagnostic manufacturer that can provide rapid testing for COVID-19 at the end of the month, leading Commissioner Larry Scott to say football can start faster than expected.
“Recent movements across other meetings across the country to launch football and other fall sports have put Big Ten, its members and academics at a disadvantage,” he reads. “These athletes are wasting an important component of student life and increasingly fit employers commercially in the long run each week. In addition, our local universities risk spending a lot of millions of dollars on must-have scholarships.
The letter marked the first case in which football control of the big ten has led to disapproval of political leaders.
Last week, President Donald Trump talked to Warren about the resumption of the season and suggested the league “immediately” fix a schedule.
Like Trump, the 10 lawmakers in the states that signed the letter are Republicans.
Contributor: USA TODAY Sports
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