College Football

NCAA Issues New COVID Guidelines

Updated Jul. 18, 2020 3:09 p.m. ET

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While there remains uncertainty around the status of college sports for the fall, the NCAA is attempting to take the proper precautions to ensure the safety of student-athletes across the country if games are played.

On Friday, college sports' governing board issued its latest return-to-sport guidelines, the third iteration since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the statement released by the NCAA, "the guidelines are designed to inform schools in responding appropriately based on their specific circumstances and in the best interest of returning college athletes’ health and well-being.  Many sports require close, personal contact and require specially crafted guidelines."

The recommendations include daily self-health checks, the appropriate use of face coverings and social distancing during training, and testing and results within 72 hours of competition in high contact risk sports.

It still remains unclear whether sports will be played in the fall, as NCAA President Mark Emmert offered something of a warning on Friday:

These updated guidelines come a little over a week after the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences announced that if they are able to move forward with fall sports, they will do so only within their conference.

Even with the uncertainty surrounding fall sports, there are some who believe that the games need to be played.

LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron recently explained his belief that football needs to be played this fall in a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence.

"I don't think we can take this away from our players, take this away from our state and our country... We need football. Football is the lifeblood of our country."

For now, the NCAA is doing what it can to prepare for all the various scenarios, including, hopefully, a return to play sooner than later.

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