Illinois Football: NCAA president Mark Emmert talks COVID-19 measures

It looks like the NCAA is starting to come around and get a little more serious about the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday morning, NCAA president Mark Emmert did an interview with the Today Show and talked a little bit more about the situation the Illinois football program and all of the sports world is facing today.

There were multiple tidbits to come out of the interview. There was a deadline placed for the withdraw of college sports teams this fall.

"“Any school and conference that decides to move forward—and that decision won’t be until August 21—but if they decide to move forward, they have to meet a very clear, very rigid protocol… They’re not guidelines anymore. They’re mandatory.”"

Emmert would go on to talk about the mandatory measures that schools must abide by moving forward. He didn’t like that people are criticizing the NCAA and their response to COVID-19, and then he laid out the measures in a little more detail.

"“Every school has to test every athlete going forward into competition at least once a week, and no more than 72 hours before any competition.” He continued, “If they can’t get [results] back within a 72 hour period, they simply can’t compete. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the reality.”"

And to finish off the interview, Emmert went more in-depth on ramifications for a student-athlete if he or she didn’t want to participate this year in athletics.

"Emmert said that the NCAA wants to “make sure that students have complete flexibility about opting out or deciding not to play,” adding that students “need to have the assurance that this pandemic is not going to be held against them.” Emmert concluded, “We need to make sure that fairness exists on all of our campuses.”"

This last quote from Emmert is what many people were wondering. Illinois has already had one player, Ra’Von Bonner, decide to sit out the season due to COVID-19 concerns. The question was whether or not his scholarship would still be honored. The answer from Emmert says that he will still be on scholarship, which is the right decision.

At this point, who knows if Illinois football will be played this fall. I feel like it changes by the hour. Earlier this morning I read where the Illini are expecting 10,000-12,000 fans at each home game this year. I think, as fans, we have to take the season one day at a time.