CDL Live Matches Cancelled Due to Coronavirus Concerns

The Call of Duty League (CDL) has announced the cancellation of all 2020 live events due to global COVID-19 concerns. In their official statement, Activision Blizzard informed that the matches will now be played online, to protect the health and safety of the competitors and fans. 

Esports has felt the impact of the global health crisis. At the end of February, the Electronic Sports League (ESL) had to play their flagship event IEM Katowice in the Spodek Arena in front of empty ranks due to coronavirus concerns. Earlier this week, Blizzard Entertainment had announced the cancellation of all Overwatch League homestand events in March and April for similar reasons. Call of Duty's solution to the crisis in moving the matches online may also apply to the Overwatch League. More leagues are expected to move their competition online as the requirement for social distancing due to the pandemic threat has made live events too great of a risk.

Just yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) had labelled COVID-19 a pandemic after the number of cases outside of China had increased 13-fold over the span of two weeks. Several countries have issued policies to quarantine the illness. For instance, France had announced the closure of all its schools from Monday onward amid the coronavirus outbreak today.