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All Varsity Sports suspended for 2020

Varsity Cup organisers have taken the decision to suspend all tournaments for the remainder of the year.

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The Varsity Cup, Varsity Shield, as well as all other Varsity Sports events, were recently put on hold due to the country's Covid-19 lockdown.

Monday's decision was taken after a meeting between the Varsity Sports Executive Committee, which consists of multi-media rights holder Advent Sport Entertainment and Media (ASEM), University Sports Company (USC), University Sports South Africa (USSA) and university representatives.

They agreed that "it is unlikely that there will be any normal sports tournaments for the rest of 2020" and therefore took the decision to temporarily suspend all Varsity Sports tournaments for the rest of 2020.

"It is unlikely that any normal sports tournaments will take place within the next 10 months," ASEM CEO Francois Pienaar said in confirmation sent to Sport24.

The former Springbok captain added: "We have therefore taken a principle decision to suspend all our sporting activities across universities until 2021. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our athletes and spectators, while also allowing universities and schools to return to the academic year. We will however remain ready to host certain tournaments should government regulations change regarding the hosting of sport events and academic calendars allow for tournaments to take place."

ASEM will continue to monitor government regulations and is committed to ongoing communications with its stakeholders.

"Our focus now is to work with our commercial partners, USSA and the USC to develop the best possible calendar for 2021 and reintroduce a fresh new sporting landscape for youth sport. People remain our main priority and the health of our staff, the well-being and academic success of our athletes and supporters will always be placed first," Pienaar concluded.

Defending champions Maties topped the Varsity Cup standings with five wins from five matches when the season was halted.

- Compiled by Sport24 staff

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