Ivy League Teams Petition to Reinstate Conference Tournaments amid Coronavirus

Jessica Hill/Associated Press

After the Ivy League announced Tuesday it was canceling its men's and women's basketball tournaments amid concerns about the coronavirus, member teams have started a petition to reinstate the tourney:

"Every single team in this league devotes their entire year to reaching this level of competition," the Change.com petition read. "We feel the decision to cancel the tournament was made without enough serious consideration for the student athletes and the investments that have been made up to this point in our season. This is the pinnacle of what we have worked for since August."

It also noted other conferences are going forward with their tournaments. 

Additionally, the league announced regular-season champions—Yale on the men's side and Princeton on the women's side—will automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament.

As of Tuesday, the NCAA has not made any changes to its plans for March Madness.

Harvard star Bryce Aiken noted his objections to the ruling:

The spread of COVID-19 has created significant concerns worldwide, including in sports that feature large gatherings of fans. The NBA has considered playing games with no spectators in the stands.

According to CNN, the disease has caused 26 deaths in the United States as of Tuesday with 732 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.