SEC announces COVID-19 cancellation, forfeit policy

The SEC has announced its COVID-19 policy for any game cancellations in the 2021-22 academic year. If a team is unable to complete a regular season event due to COVID-19, the conference will force the institution to forfeit the game and take a loss. The opposing team will be credited with a win.

If both teams are unable to compete due to the number of available athletes due to COVID-19, both teams will forfeit the game and be assigned a loss.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey holds the right to declare a “no contest” for any event if the circumstances warrant it.

This comes after a report surfaced earlier this month that SEC officials were discussing potential financial penalties for schools that forfeit a game by failing to meet COVID-19 protocols.

How is the SEC approaching vaccinations 

The SEC has been very upfront that it supports widespread vaccination efforts. Sankey has said on the record that the conference will not mandate vaccinations, but the SEC’s medical task force recommends that student-athletes get vaccinated. 

Institutions are providing vaccination education and conference policies make it easier for a vaccinated athlete to stay on the field. Vanderbilt, a private school, is the only school in the SEC requiring all athletes receive vaccinations. 

The NCAA unveiled its COVID-19 protocols for the fall this month. During competition season, vaccinated athletes will not be tested unless symptomatic or if a risk assessment shows the athlete has been in close contact with COVID-19. 

Unvaccinated players will have to take a PCR test at least once a week during the season and another PCR test within three days of competition that same week.

COVID-19 cases in the conference footprint 

While several SEC football teams are trending in a strong direction with vaccination rates — at least six of 14 are at 80% — their communities are not. With the Delta variant on the rise and low vaccination numbers in the SEC footprint, experts are concerned game days could become super spreader events. 

In the U.S., 99.5% of deaths are among the unvaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alabama (46.5%), Mississippi (47.3%), Arkansas (50.3%), Louisiana (51.3%), Georgia (51%) and Tennessee (51%) make up six of the 10 worst states in America in vaccination rate per the New York Times. All six are in the SEC footprint. 

Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama rank in the top-eight in the nation in cases per 100,000 people. 

“In preparation for the season ahead, the vaccination rates among SEC teams are well above rates for the general population,” Sankey said in a Tweet earlier this month. “Our teams are leading and have asked questions, heard directly from medical experts and accessed the COVID vaccine throughout the spring and summer.

“We know nothing is perfect, but the availability & efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is an incredible product of science, not a political football & we all need to do our part to support a healthy society.”