(Reuters) – This year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Los Angeles Dodgers will instead stage the Midsummer Classic in 2022, organisers said Friday.
Dodger Stadium had been set to host the game for the first time since 1980.
“Once it became clear we were unable to hold this year’s All-Star festivities, we wanted to award the Dodgers with the next available All-Star Game, which is 2022,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
“I want to thank the Dodgers organization and the city of Los Angeles for being collaborative partners in the early stages of All-Star preparation and for being patient and understanding in navigating the uncertainty created by the pandemic.”
It marks the first time since World War II that the All-Star Game will not be played after the event in 1945 was cancelled due to travel restrictions.
MLB and its players’ association agreed to a shortened, 60-game 2020 campaign last week with no fans in attendance and each team’s first game on July 23 or July 24, after weeks of negotiations cast doubt on whether the season would open at all.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
