Anthony Fauci warns football ‘may not happen this year’

As of now, the NFL is still planning to have a season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The league’s schedule has been released and training camps are set to begin in late July.

But in an interview Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned football may not happen at all. 

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading voice in the United States’ response to the pandemic, said the NFL should consider isolating its players and containing them in a central location in order to conduct the season. 

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci told CNN. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”

A bubble — also known as a central hub — has been a key component for other sporting leagues such as the NBA and the NHL as they map out their return to play. The NBA, for instance, has said it will have 22 teams resume the season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. The NHL has said it’s considering a 24-team format in two central cities with a dozen teams in each. 

After Fauci’s interview, the NFL responded with a statement that said the league is “developing a comprehensive and rapid-result testing program and rigorous protocols” for the upcoming season, based on the guidance of public health officials and experts. 

“Make no mistake, this is no easy task,” said Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer. “We will make adjustments as necessary to meet the public health environment as we prepare to play the 2020 season as scheduled with increased protocols and safety measures for all players, personnel, and attendees. 

“We will be flexible and adaptable in this environment to adjust to the virus as needed.” 

The statement did not address Fauci’s opinion that the NFL needs a bubble, but a day earlier, Sills said on a conference call with teams that the league does not view it “practical or appropriate to construct a bubble,” the NFL Network reported. 

The NFL, as of now, plans for all 32 teams playing in their own stadiums.  The NFL’s preseason kicks off Aug. 6, while its regular season is scheduled to begin Sept. 10 with a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans. 

College football, facing the same complex problems as the NFL, is still planning on playing this season, which begins Aug. 29. On Wednesday, the NCAA’s Division I council approved a six-week plan for teams to begin practice in July. 

Several NFL players have tested positive for the coronavirus this offseason, including Washington Redskins receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott and Denver’s Von Miller. On Monday, the NFL Network reported a group from the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans recently tested positive. 

ESPN reported the NFL’s player union told its members that the league expects to test players every three days for coronavirus. 

In April, Goodell said it was too early to know whether games would be played with fans in attendance. But late last month, NFL executive Troy Vincent told Team 980 that the league was planning to have packed stadiums “until the medical community tells us otherwise.” 

The NFL has yet to allow most of its players back in its facility — with the exception of those rehabbing from injuries — and held its offseason remotely. 

Fauci’s concerns, though, raise the question of whether football is viable this fall. This isn’t the first time the doctor has voiced his concerns about the sport either, calling football “the perfect setup” to spread the virus.

“I would think that if there is an infected football player on the field — a middle linebacker, a tackle, whoever it is it — as soon as they hit the next guy, the chances are that they will be shedding virus all over that person,” Fauci told NBC Sports.