Oklahoma Coach Lincoln: No Revealing of Players' COVID-19 Data

Coach Lincoln Riley has made it clear that he is not in favor of revealing the COVID-19 test results. It would give a competitive advantage to the opponents as it is not anything more than disclosing the information related to players’ injury & the list. Talking about the same, he said, "Just like, we would with an injury, we've made the decision not to broadcast that. We've been probably the most transparent school in the country up until then, but you don't want to give your team a competitive disadvantage. So, we're not going to do that."

The Controversy:

This recent announcement by the Oklahoma Coach Lincoln created a controversy — some of the coaches & the league members have been of the idea that it is not justifiable to compare injury with that of coronavirus — it is not making any sense. And, since a number of players have already been tested positive for coronavirus. But, Riley has replied to this by saying — as long as players are being treated & with all the facilities available — there is no need to share COVID-19 information from the team. Sharing this information may help the opponents to win the game.

Without making speculations whether this decision coming from Riley is justifiable or not, the season will definitely make one thing clear — the season is unpredictable, unprecedented. The coronavirus mayhem has affected & will continue to affect the teams in a way that we have not even expected. Teams including the Pac-12 & the Big Ten have already postponed the game and some of them are moving forward with the game. But, the teams that are playing & those who are playing — for both, this season is going to be tough.

Competitive disadvantage of Making team’s coronavirus Data Public.

Riley says, previously after revealing the COVID-19 data related to one of the players at the major positions has got infected with coronavirus has given a competitive edge to other teams — Riley has decided not to reveal any COVID-19 data related to the team. Many of the college teams are releasing the coronavirus test data without making mention of the names of players. While many teams are playing a shortened season — others including Pac-12 & Big Ten will be playing spring season.

The testing started in early July for Oklahoma's athletics. Per the latest reports, the team has announced as many as 17 players infected with the coronavirus. Out of these 17 infected team members, six were very fresh diagnoses. At the time this announcement was made — Riley had admitted of a high scorer getting infected with the coronavirus.

However, Riley had recently said that — he will not be revealing any further details of the players’ coronavirus test results making his stance clear that doing so would give a competitive advantage to other teams. He said in a statement “I think we're to the point now where we're playing games and obviously any active case or contact trace is going to have game repercussions,' Riley told reporters Tuesday. 'So, just like, we would with an injury, we made the decision not to broadcast that. I know we've been probably the most transparent school in the country up until then, but you don't want to give your team a competitive disadvantage, so, we're not going to do that.”