(Reuters) – US football league NFL has postponed games for all seasons for the first time because of the Covid-19 outbreak, which required three clashes to be rescheduled from the weekend to early next week, it said.
The Cleveland Browns, who face the Las Vegas Raiders in a Week 15 clash on Saturday, will now play Monday, the NFL said in a press release.
The Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams and Washington football team vs. Philadelphia Eagles games, originally scheduled for Sunday, will now take place on Tuesday.
The decision by the NFL, which discussed the measure with the league’s Players Association (NFLPA), comes as the highly infectious microbe version threatens to accelerate the already alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in North America. .
“We made these schedule changes based on medical advice and after discussions with the NFLPA because we are seeing a new highly contagious form of the virus this week, resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league,” the NFL said.
Cleveland, which is a game away from first place in the AFC North division, put about 20 players, including two of its quarterbacks, on the Covid-19 list this week.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto and Amy Teneri in New York)
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