Martin Jarmond speaks on the Pac-12’s decision to cancel 2020 fall sports

The Pac-12 has officially cancelled the fall sports seasons, making waves as the college football season in the Pac-12 has officially been taken off the table. In his first year as the athletic director, and hell, only second month, UCLA Bruins AD Martin Jarmond has certainly had to deal with a lot.

A growing budget crisis and a mess of an athletics department left by former AD Dan Guerrero has certainly not made his job easy.

Jarmond, however, seems poised to take this challenge on, and issued the following statement after the news of the conference cancelling all athletic competition until January 1, 2021.

“Throughout the pandemic, every decision UCLA makes – both at the campus level and at the conference level – is guided by our priority of safety for the entire Bruin community, and we follow the recommendations of public health officials and medical experts. I extend my sincere gratitude to the members of UCLA’s Return to Training Task Force and Future Planning Task Force, the Pac-12 COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee and the state and county officials who collaborated diligently and methodically over the past several months to create a path back to practice and competition while prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. Now, despite the tremendous efforts of so many, medical experts have advised us that the risk to compete this fall is too significant. UCLA Athletics is in complete support of today’s decision by the Pac-12 CEO group to postpone all sport competitions through the end of the calendar year; no game is worth jeopardizing the health of even one person.

I am disappointed for all those impacted, especially our student-athletes, but if the past few months have shown us anything, it is just how resilient our young people are. As a conference, we will continue to explore how best to move forward. In the meantime, our focus will be on the continued support of our student-athletes’ academic success, physical and mental health and overall well-being.

— Martin Jarmon”