AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas has announced that it has shut down its football operations after nine student-athletes and 13 staff members tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
The shutdown of operations means that UT's game against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, December 12 has been canceled. The Big 12 Conference says the game is being declared a "no contest" and officials say it will not be rescheduled.
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In a statement posted online, UT Athletics Director Chris Del Conte said that an additional 14 student-athletes and 15 staff members have been identified in contact tracing and are in quarantine per COVID-19 protocols.
The full statement is as follows:
"We are pausing all football team activities and shutting down football training facilities to get a COVID-19 spread among our Football program under control. We currently have nine student-athletes and 13 staff members who have tested positive this week, all of whom are in self-isolation. An additional 14 student-athletes and 15 staff members have been identified in contact tracing, and per COVID-19 protocols, are in quarantine at this time. We will continue daily testing, monitor the situation and adhere to all of the medical team's health and safety protocols as we move forward with an abundance of caution in this situation. We're extremely disappointed that we won't be able to play our final regular season game at Kansas this week, but look forward to returning to action for our bowl game in the coming weeks."
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