The Rose Bowl was denied a special exemption from the state of California to allow a few hundred fans to attend the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on January 1, seriously questioning the game that remained in Pasadena.
A person involved in organizing the game told The Associated Press that the application for the Roses Tournament was denied earlier this week.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Rose Bowl and the College Football Playoff were still finalizing a plan on what to do with the game. A decision was expected before the playoff teams were selected on Sunday, the person said.
If the game moves, the venue is likely to be at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. PCP offices are located on the outskirts of Dallas.
Coaches and school officials with qualifiers have complained that the Rose Bowl has been unable to accommodate the relatives of the players due to California’s COVID-19 restrictions, located in a location where the state fight a public health crisis that is straining their hospitals.
This is the second time California health officials have denied it the request for exemption from the Roses Tournament to allow fans to the stadium of 90,888 seats.
Los Angeles County has a stay-at-home order that went into effect earlier this month. Pasadena has its own public health department and can set its own rules, but it has mostly followed the county trail during the coronavirus pandemic.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly even suggested on Friday that the Fighting Irish could boycott the playoffs if they reached the field and were forced to play in the Rose Bowl without the players ’families being able to attend.
After Ohio State won the Big Ten championship game in Northwestern on Saturday to improve their chances of winning a spot in the CFP, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day echoed the feelings of Kelly, the coach. of Clemson, Dabo Swinney and others.
“I also agree that families should be there,” Day said.
It’s unclear if the game moves if it was called Rose Bowl. Otherwise, it would be the first time in more than 100 years that no Rose Bowl game was played after a college football season. The first Rose Bowl was played on January 1, 1902.
The last time the Rose Bowl was played outside of Pasadena, California, was in 1942. The game between Oregon State and Duke was played in Durham, North Carolina, because the west coast was considered unsafe after the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
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