Georgia football and the rest of the SEC found out how the conference plans on handling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for the 2021 football season, and it’s strict but understandable.
In short, there will be no wiggle room for teams who have COVID-19 issues this season. So many SEC teams had to reschedule or cancel games last year because of COVID-19 issues on their teams. A lot of those postponed games didn’t even get played ‚— the Georgia and Vandy game comes to mind.
So to eliminate a lot of the running around trying to make sure games get played, Greg Sankey and the SEC released their policy.
The conference announced in a press release that their policy would include event cancellations and forfeits.
"“In the event a team is unable to begin or complete a regular season Conference event due to the unavailability of participants (due to COVID-19, injuries or other reasons), that team will forfeit the contest and will be assigned a loss in the Conference standings,” the press release said. “The opposing team that is ready to play will be credited with a win in the Conference standings. Both teams will be deemed to have played and completed the contest for purpose of the Conference standings.”"
The press release continues to say that if both teams are unable to compete, they’ll both forfeit the game and each receive a loss. Those losses will be included in conference standings as if they played that game.
This part of the press release seems to be the most strict, but it’s so teams don’t expect that they’ll reschedule the matchup, but don’t. The schedules are made almost years in advance, so it’s only right to do it like this.
While these rules seem harsh, Sankey and the SEC are just trying to make sure they do things as safely as possible. COVID-19 is still running rampant throughout the entire country, but especially in the SEC states.
Some teams like LSU have released stadium protocols requiring proof of vaccine or a negative test. Other schools, like Georgia, won’t do that.
The important thing to remember here is to do what is best for you as a fan and take as many safety precautions as possible.
These rules are strict for a reason so that these student-athletes can be protected and stay safe. No one wants to forfeit games, so implementing such a strong stance may make the schools even more strict about keeping their teams safe.
If schools don’t take this policy seriously, it could really ruin a season in a matter of weeks. Georgia football has a schedule that could really set up a special season for them, so even though the university isn’t requiring vaccination proof, testing, or implementing masks, the team should still take as much caution as possible.
Go to the games, enjoy yourself, but above all else, just make smart, safe decisions. These are people who play college football. Their wellbeing matters and the SEC is just making sure they can do that while being safe.