Big Ten Conference to resume football season in October

The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday that it will resume its football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020.

The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors “adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/ competition,” the Big Ten said in its announcement.

According to the Big Ten, the vote to resume the football season in October was unanimous.

All Big Ten institutions will designate a Chief Infection Officer to oversee the collection and reporting of data to the Big Ten Conference. 

All COVID-19 positive student-athletes will have to undergo cardiac testing to include labs and biomarkers, ECG, Echocardiogram, and a Cardiac MRI.

The earliest a student-athlete with a COVID-19 positive diagnosis can return to game play is 21 days after their diagnosis.

Daily testing for football will begin by September 30, 2020, the Big Ten said.

Updates regarding Big Ten fall sports other than football will “be announced shortly,” according to the conference, and all sports will be required to participate in testing protocols before returning to competition.