Government Shutdown Forces Air Force To Cancel Its College Sports Events

Air Force Academy has grounded its athletics program, at least for now.

The Air Force Falcons announced Saturday in a statement it has canceled all sporting events due to the United States government shutdown, which took effect earlier in the day at midnight when the Senate blocked a short-term spending bill.

“Due to the government shutdown, all Air Force Academy home and away intercollegiate athletic events have been cancelled until further notice,” Air Force said in a statement. “In the event a solution is reached, the Academy will work to reschedule as many missed events as possible.”

Affected Air Force games already include: men’s and men’s and women’s basketball vs. Fresno State; men’s hockey vs. Sacred Heart; and men’s and women’s swimming and diving matchups vs. UNLV.

Air Force’s athletics budget uses money appropriated by the government.

However, Army and Navy sports events will go ahead as scheduled because their athletics department use financing from organizations that are technically seperate from their respective universities, according to USA TODAY Sports.