USL Championship season suspended due to coronavirus

Following the lead of the NBA and MLS, the USL announced on Thursday morning the USL Championship season will be suspended 30 days at minimum in response to the growing coronavirus crisis.

The 2020 season started just last week, with one game in week two taking place on Wednesday, behind closed doors.

Sacramento Republic have five league games scheduled over the next 30 days: Saturday at Las Vegas Lights, March 21 at LA Galaxy II, March 25 at home against Reno 1868, March 29 vs. OKC Energy FC, and April 4 at Rio Grande Valley FC.

It’s also worth noting their U.S. Open Cup game against Oakland Roots also comes in the 30-day window, scheduled for April 8, but because that is a separate competition run by U.S. Soccer it’s currently unclear if and how that game will be impacted.

Sacramento Republic released a statement after the news dropped, with the Open Cup game mentioned in the games impacted:

“The health and safety of our fans, guests, players and staff will always be our first priority. In coordination with the USL and local health experts, and with the support of Major League Soccer, we will continue to monitor developments and support the health of our community. Republic FC will announce rescheduled matches at a later date and work with partners and community leaders to reschedule any appearances, events, watch parties, or gatherings of fans and staff.

“The club has formed a task-force to evaluate the latest information and heed the expert advice from the CDC, state and local health officials. When we resume games, the club will continue to provide additional resources like hand sanitizing stations, as well as enhanced cleaning of the stadium aligned with expert guidance.

“In the coming days, the club will provide fans with more information about tickets for impacted home games (March 25th, March 29th, and April 8th US Open Cup match), and additional schedule dates as soon as possible.”

So that’s the lay of the land. The USL Championship is on ice for at least 30 days, but in the interest of public health, that seems like a more than reasonable response to a growing crisis. We’ll provide updates as we receive them on the situation for Sac Republic.

For now, what do you think? Let’s chat in the comments below.