BREAKING: Concordia’s Football Game Against Université de Montréal Cancelled

Virus Spreads Through Carabins Team

Concordia’s Thursday night game against the Carabins has been cancelled and not postponed. Photo Tristan D’Amours

The Concordia Stingers’ Thursday night clash against the Université de Montréal Carabins at the CEPSUM is cancelled due to several Carabins players and coaches experiencing flu symptoms as of Wednesday morning, according to a statement issued by the university.

“Though it was a difficult decision for us to make because the impact that this situation has on numerous things, we must abide by the recommendations of our medical experts,” said Manon Simard, UdeM athletics director in the statement. “[…] We have to prioritize the health and safety of our student-athletes as well as those of our opponents.”

Concordia has yet to comment on the situation.

According to UdeM, the risk of illness spreading to regular users of the CEPSUM facilities was also considered when the university decided to cancel the game.

All members of the Carabins football team are under a 48-hour quarantine, and all football equipment and facilities are going through a process of decontamination as of Wednesday afternoon.

Despite this being a regular season game, the matchup will not be rescheduled to a later date. Instead, the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec has cancelled it altogether.

“[The UdeM athletics department] asked to have the game postponed to another day, but the RSEQ and Concordia refused,” said Benoit Mongeon, director of communications and marketing for the Carabins. “That is why the game is now cancelled.”

Typically, when a team cancels a game, they forfeit, which counts as a loss. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, as the RSEQ indicated that it will soon announce what the cancellation will imply for both teams with regards to standings and whether there would be a winner and a loser for the game.

This story will be updated as the situation develops.