Ivy League cancels 2020-21 winter sports season

The Ivy League has canceled all winter sports for the 2020-21 campaign, including the upcoming college basketball season, the conference announced Thursday.

Fall sports also won't take place in the spring semester, and spring sports are postponed until at least March.

Winter- and fall-sport student-athletes won't lose a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility.

"Throughout the last nine months, we have asked our campus communities to make extraordinary adjustments in order to do our part in combating the global pandemic ... Regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics competition in a safe manner," the Ivy League council of presidents said in a joint statement.

The Ivy League is the nation's first Division I conference to cancel its winter sports season. The conference was also the first to cancel its postseason basketball tournament and its fall sports season due to the coronavirus pandemic.