Taking precaution
MLS, Orlando City officials confident in tournament safety
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber is confident players and staff will be safe during an upcoming tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
The league officially announced its “MLS is Back” event Wednesday, with plans to bring 26 MLS teams to Central Florida. They will quarantine together at Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin resort and go through extensive testing before participating in a World Cup style tournament that will span 54 matches.
As coronavirus numbers have climbed in Florida, however, fans have questioned whether it really was a good idea to host the tournament on Disney World property.
“We are obviously, like everybody, monitoring what goes on and what has been going on with COVID in every state, including in Florida, and the number of cases in Florida have been less than in many, many other places,” Garber said during a videoconference Wednesday.
“So we are confident that we’ll be able to manage our tournament, which is isolated from the public. And again, the public is not going to have contact with them without wearing PPE face masks and the like. It’s not as if the tournament will be open to the public. There won’t be any guests in the environment where we are going to be. So it’s something that we are confident we’ll be able to manage.”
Orange County has experienced a 64% increase in the number of COVID-19 cases between May 5 and June 9. Osceola County, which includes part of Disney World property and the surrounding area, had a 46% increase, according to an analysis for the Orlando Sentinel.
Officials attribute some of the increase to more testing, Memorial Day weekend outings and people starting to get out more.