American sports shield against the coronavirus: restrictions, suspensions ... and the 'March Madness'

• Last minute Coronavirus

The sport of the United States has begun to take measures to avoid the crisis that has generated the epidemic of coronavirus in the competitions that had, and have, to dispute in Asia and Europe.

After the words of LeBron James , star of the Los Angeles Lakers , in which he refused to play NBA games without an audience, the basketball league has announced, together with the other major sports leagues in the country, the first restrictions to stop the contagion. In the NBA, MLS (soccer), NHL (ice hockey) and MLB (baseball) journalists will no longer be able to access the locker rooms to chat with the players, as they used to do so far.

"All locker rooms and equipment venues will be open only to players and essential employees of equipment and facilities until further notice," reads the joint statement of the four major leagues. In addition, the NBA will force journalists to be more than one meter away from athletes at the times available for interviews, and has prohibited players from signing autographs and having contact with fans in the pavilion.

At the moment, none of the four competitions has been forced to suspend or hold a game behind closed doors, but that possibility is not ruled out in the near future and the franchises are already preparing for it, despite the criticisms of LeBron James .

The NBA has just over a month left to reach the start of the Playoffs , the peak of the season after the 82 regular league games.

The Ivy League, canceled

This week the playoffs of the NCAA conferences of university basketball are being played throughout the United States, the previous one to the famous 'March Madness', the ' March Madness ', one of the quintessential moments of American sport. Whoever wins the conference tournament has direct access to the final tournament, which is held throughout the country throughout the month of March, and whose Final Four will be played at the beginning of April in the city of Atlanta.

One of the conferences of the NCAA, the Ivy League, in an unprecedented decision , has decided to cancel that fight for the title and give the Yale University team champion, which in this way is automatically classified for the ' March Madness'.

It remains to be seen if this decision brings a ' domino effect ' in more conferences or even in the final tournament, one of the most followed events and that generate more money in American sport.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project