MLS cancels events in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

Bob
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Posted on: May 20, 2020 6:35 pm EDT

The MLS All-Star game and others won’t be taking place this year

Several of the individual events that Major Soccer League (MLS) had planned for this year, like the Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup, have been canceled. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most sports paused all activities and, now that sports are making plans to comeback, changes had to be made to the usual agenda. For MLS, this also means that the All-Star game, pitting MLS all-stars against their Mexican league counterparts, was canceled, as well. The game was scheduled for July 29 at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

The Leagues Cup was up for its second edition this season; this is a short tournament that features the MLS teams and teams from the Mexican soccer league. It usually runs between July and September. The Campeones Cup, which was scheduled to start on August 12, in Seattle, had the MLS Champion Sounders facing the Mexican League winner. According to MLS officials, the games were canceled “to provide the most available dates for the remainder of the year for league competition.” The league also confirmed that these events will return for sure next year. MLS did say that the 2021 edition will be played at the same venue chosen for this year, and it is already reviewing proposals for the cities to host the 2022 edition.

The MLS season has been on hold since March 12, only two weeks after the official season started. Most teams are already running individual voluntary outdoor workouts at their training facilities; meanwhile, the league has been considering the possibility of using one central hub to host all games – most likely in Orlando, this summer.