COVID-19: NFL cancels international games for 2020 season

Washington : The National Football League (NFL), professional American football league, on Monday announced that its five scheduled international games for 2020 -- four in London and one in Mexico City -- will be moved back to the US amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"After considerable analysis, we believe the decision to play all our games domestically this season is the right one for our players, our clubs, and all our fans," NFL executive vice president Christopher Halpin said in an official statement.

"We greatly appreciate the support of our governmental and stadium partners in Mexico and the United Kingdom, who all agree with this decision, and we look forward to returning for games in both countries in the 2021 season."

The Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins previously announced they would be home teams for international games this year. They'll instead be scheduled to play all their home games in their usual stadiums.

The league had been planning to feature one game in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, two in London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and two more at Wembley Stadium.

The NFL also announced that it will release its regular season schedule on Thursday.

Opponents for all 32 teams were previously released on December 30 last year, but on Thursday the league will unveil times and dates.

Thus far, NFL has not announced any major changes to its schedule when COVID-19 pandemic has brought the entire sporting calendar across the world to a grinding halt.