The Major Arena Soccer League Thursday decided to end the 2019-2020 regular season effective immediately, due to the Coronavirus.

The league’s board of directors voted unanimously Thursday afternoon “to act in the best interests of the players, staff and fans of the league.”

The regular season was scheduled to end on Sunday, March 22.

The decision to end the regular season followed the direction seen in other professional sports across North America, such as the NHL and NBA and others along with directives and restrictions from local governments in MASL communities.

“It’s a disappointing end to an exciting regular season, but the health and safety of our players, fans and staff is paramount,” MASL commissioner Joshua Schaub said. “It was a significant sacrifice for our owners to forego the remaining regular season games, but it was the appropriate decision considering the gravity of the situation.”

There was no immediate decision or announcement on when the playoffs might commence.

The MASL will continue to monitor developments and provide updates on the league and the status of league events at a later date.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.