Sunday's USL Championship Final between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Phoenix Rising FC has been canceled after multiple individuals on the Tampa Bay Rowdies covered persons list tested positive for COVID-19 upon a second round of rapid testing on Saturday morning.
Tampa Bay and Phoenix were named Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions for 2020, respectively.
“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.”
The news follows the earlier cancelation of the USL League One final between Greenville Triumph and Union Omaha after multiple members of the Omaha group 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.
