VANCOUVER, BC
– Amid the widespread of COVID-19 resulting in the hiatus of multiple sports leagues and events across North America, Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Marc Dos Santos reiterated his confidence this week in the club and league’s decisions to protect players, staff, and the public.
“I understand why sports events are getting postponed. You have a lot of people together in the same place, thousands of people. Everybody is taking measures that are very careful, and very thoughtful,” said Dos Santos.
On Thursday,
Major League Soccer announced that the league would be suspending match play for 30 days due to concerns surrounding COVID-19
.
“It’s a very unique situation,” added midfielder Andy Rose. “I’ve never seen something like this really coming in into the sports world. It’s all new to all of us and we need to be as vigilant and as careful as possible.”
The Whitecaps FC first team will have three days off and are scheduled to resume training at the Whitecaps FC National Soccer Development Centre on Monday, March 16.
“We try to do everything right with the building, with travel. But then there are a lot of things that have been out of our control. I think it’s a serious thing,” said Dos Santos.
With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic earlier this week, the club’s medical and support staff have taken extra care and attention in providing a health and safety environment.
“Obviously we’ve got great staff here taking precautions, taking measures and hopefully things will be okay,” said Rose.
During the 30-day suspension of the league season, Whitecaps FC will be rescheduling matches that were set for March 14 at home to Colorado Rapids, March 21 at New York City FC, and April 4 at home to Real Salt Lake. Information will be sent out to ticket holders once dates are confirmed.
For regular updates, please go to
whitecapsfc.com/covid-19
.
