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USL Championship title game canceled due to COVID-19 outbreak

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The USL Championship will not see a champion for the 2020 season.

The league announced Saturday that the Final between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Phoenix Rising FC has been canceled after multiple individuals on the Rowdies’ covered persons list tested positive for COVID-19 upon a second round of rapid testing on Saturday morning. No make-up date was constructed due to the pandemic, which will see no winner crowned after an already-shortened regular season.

“First and foremost, we want to applaud these two teams on an incredible season,” said USL President Jake Edwards in a league release. “They deserved the opportunity to play for the USL Championship Final trophy and we are disappointed that we won’t be able to watch them on Sunday night. With that said, we want to thank all of our clubs, our supporters, our players and our staff for all of their time, hard work and energy this season. We’ve grown closer under difficult circumstances and we can’t wait to be back together again soon.”

Tampa Bay and Phoenix were named respective Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions for 2020. The news also followed the earlier cancelation of the USL League One Final between Greenville Triumph and Union Omaha after multiple members of the Omaha squad tested positive for COVID-19.

“While we are disappointed that the Championship and League One Finals have been cancelled, we understand and appreciate the decision to put player health and wellness first,” said the USL Players Association Executive Committee. “We look forward to seeing all our players back in action at the start of next season.”

The USL will now head into its offseason ahead of hopefully full season in 2021.

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