How much longer can the powers that run college sports turn a blind eye to player safety and the health of our communities?

How much longer can they keep football and basketball slogging toward golden ticket paydays, coronavirus be damned?

How long before all admit that collegiate athletes are now pawns in a high-stakes game with life and death consequences? Football and basketball players that represent their prominent universities have long been amateurs in name only. The way such colleges trot them out to provide entertainment amid the pandemic’s most deadly surge proves that these competitors are, in fact, workers. They deserve pay.

Consider the findings from my colleagues’ recent investigation at The New York Times, the most comprehensive look at the number of coronavirus infections in college sports. It found that at least 6,629 players and staff members in athletic departments from major universities have tested positive. Almost all of the infections happened after mid-August, when football teams began returning to campuses across the country to prepare for this blighted season. (One can reliably assume the majority of cases come from players, who greatly outnumber coaches, trainers and other support staff.)

Source: New York Times

Powered by NewsAPI.org