Major League Soccer calls mid-May return ‘extremely unlikely’

In an update released on Tuesday morning, Major League Soccer (MLS) announced that its previous goal of returning to play in mid-May is now ‘extremely unlikely’.

There is still no timetable for when the league’s 25th anniversary season will begin, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. In today’s announcement, the MLS league office expressed doubts that the regular season will be played in full, signaling that there is likely an abbreviated schedule in the works.

See below for the full statement from MLS:

NEW YORK – Major League Soccer continues to regularly evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including how it will affect our plans for the 2020 season. Although we hoped to return to play in mid-May, that is extremely unlikely based on the guidance of federal and local public health authorities. Our goal remains to play as many games as possible, and while we currently have enough dates to play the entire season, we recognize at this time that it may become difficult to do so. We continue to learn more every day from the medical experts, and we expect to have additional details in the coming weeks regarding when we can return to play. As we have throughout this process, we will update our fans with every decision, and we thank them for their support and understanding during this extremely challenging time.