Rutgers University announced Wednesday that spectators will be banned at all home Rutgers sporting events, effective Thursday.
The ban on spectators will proceed through “at least” April 3, the release said.
The school also announced it will temporarily ban all third-party events — including the state high school boys basketball tournament games scheduled for this weekend. Those games have been moved to Phillipsburg High School.
“As everyone across the world continues to deal with the impact of COVID-19, the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff is our primary concern,” the athletic department announced. “We continue to seek advice so we can observe best practices and directives as set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New Jersey Department of Health.”
The school announced a number of other changes, including:
- All third-party competitions or events scheduled to take place at Rutgers University Athletics facilities have been cancelled. The sponsoring entities have the discretion to place these events at alternative venues.
- All international travel is prohibited. Essential domestic travel for teams, coaches and staff is permissible.
- Team practices will take place as scheduled without the presence of spectators or nonessential personnel.
The department said all single-game ticket purchases, as well as third-party ticketed events, will be refunded by the Rutgers Athletics Ticket Office. The ticket office will be contacting all accounts that purchased tickets once refunds are processed.
“These changes have been implemented in consultation with university leadership and our coaching staffs,” the release said. “We will continue to monitor the developing situation and issue updates as determined.”
The announcement comes a day after school said it was cancelling all face-to-face instruction at its three campuses, starting Thursday through at least April 3.
Additional guidance for the school community is available at coronavirus.rutgers.edu.
