RALEIGH, N.C, March 16, 2020 — In response to the extraordinary events and global disruption caused by COVID-19, today Silbo will ask all amateur sports games to be suspended for at least 8 weeks. Per the CDC recommendation, Silbo will ask its teams, leagues, and clubs to suspend their athletic events until at least May 11, 2020.
It is our belief that amateur sports events place two high-risk demographics – youth athletes and sports officials over 60 – in danger of contracting and spreading COVID-19. While it pains us to face a world without sports, we must acknowledge the realities of this global pandemic.
Brendan Szulik, CEO of Silbo, said, “We understand that this announcement will impact our community of sports officials, many of whom depend on the income they generate on Silbo. We will be working in the weeks ahead to support our community during these challenging times.”
While we greatly appreciate that millions of athletes and officials are still using our platforms to register for, manage, and play games, we strongly advise all users to carefully consider whether it’s right to play athletic events given the COVID-19 outlook. Although sports have been significantly impacted by the virus, we know sports remain incredibly important and we are working to provide policies to best support our global communities during these unusual times.
Read more about COVID-19 from the Center for Disease Control.
About Silbo.ai: Based in Raleigh, NC, Silbo™ is the global leader in sports officiating automation. Made for refs by refs, Silbo automates the connection of sports games with qualified sports officials. The Go Silbo™ app can be found on the App Store and Google Play.
CONTACT: Rachel Repp, media@gosilbo.com