The Football Association of England has suspended one of its cup competitions as a result of concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
The second wave of the virus and lockdown in Britain have affected teams’ travel plans, and the FA has decided to stop the Youth Cup for now.
“We can confirm our decision to temporarily suspend the 2020-21 FA Youth Cup and have discussed this with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the competing clubs,” the FA said in an official statement on Tuesday.
“The health and wellbeing of players and staff are of paramount importance and we intend to resume the national competition once the UK Government’s current national COVID-19 lockdown concludes and it is deemed safer for clubs to travel.
“The FA Youth Participation & Development Committee, which is responsible for management of the competition, will continue to review the situation and we will provide further updates at the earliest opportunity.”
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The FA Youth Cup is open to players between the agesof 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season.
The competition attracts over 400 entries every year, including Premier League clubs’ youth teams.
Manchester City are the current holders.
There have been calls for the government to suspend all sports again (like it was done in March) to contain the virus but those calls have been rejected and elite sporting events are ongoing, although several matches in the Premier League and lower leagues have had to be postponed due to coronavirus outbreaks at some clubs.
