Talks of cancellation or postponement began in early March as professional sports leagues such as the NBA, NHL, MLB, MLR, and MLS suspended their seasons. In an April 15 interview with the Associated Press, Little League president and CEO Stephen Keener spoke on the challenging decision in regards to the World Series and coronavirus. One of the most prominent resolutions to the situation would be moving the World Series back and playing later in the fall, possibly late September, October or even November. However, Keener negated that idea:[3]
If we were to do it in the fall, pretty much every team that would be here would have to be uprooted from school. I’m not so sure that it would be in the best interest of a child’s education, after having missed probably a couple of months of school already, to take them out of school in the fall to come play in a baseball tournament. That, to me, would be quite unimportant.
— Stephen D. Keener, President and CEO of Little League International
After a thorough assessment of the impact the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has had on 6,500 community-based Little League® programs in 84 countries and based upon the direction of governmental and public health authorities, and in consultation with medical professionals and our Board of Directors, Little League International has made the difficult and disappointing decision to cancel its seven World Series tournaments and their respective regional qualifying events.
— Little League press release of April 30, 2020
Little League's president and CEO said in the release:[7][8]
“This is a heartbreaking decision for everyone at Little League International, but more so for those millions of Little Leaguers who have dreamt of one day playing in one of our seven World Series events. After exhausting all possible options, we came to the conclusion that because of the significant public health uncertainty that will still exist several months from now, and with direction from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, as well as senior public health officials and government leaders from locations where our other six World Series are held, as well as their qualifying regional tournaments, it will not be possible to proceed with our tournaments as we’ve hosted them for nearly 75 years.”
— Stephen D. Keener, President and CEO of Little League International
