CenturyLink Field, where MLS soccer's Seattle Sounders and the XFL's Seattle Dragons play home games, sits empty on March 11, 2020.Stephen Brashear/The Associated Press
Major League Soccer suspended its season for 30 days Thursday in the wake of the growing COVID-19 outbreak.
The move comes one day after the NBA suspended its season when a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
MLS has three Canadian teams — Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The MLS says it will communication plans for the continuation of the season at the appropriate time.
“Our clubs were united today in the decision to temporarily suspend our season — based on the advice and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and other public health authorities, and in the best interest of our fans, players, officials and employees,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “We’d like to thank our fans for their continued support during this challenging time.”
Before the season was suspended, Toronto FC cancelled training Thursday and sent its players home.
The Toronto players were at BMO Field, ready to train, when the club told them practice was off. The team did not make any of them available.
Several other teams have also called off training, a club spokesman said.
The Impact were on the field practising on Thursday before word broke that the CONCACAF Champions League also has been suspended.
The Impact were scheduled to travel to Honduras on Sunday for the second leg of a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal against C.D. Olimpia on Tuesday.