Women's FA Cup paused for duration of lockdown

(Reuters) - The women's FA Cup competition has been suspended for the duration of the new national lockdown which began in England last week, the Football Association said on Wednesday.

With sport outside of the elite level shut down as a result of the lockdown, the FA said it had decided to suspended the second and third rounds of the competition since clubs at amateur level were not permitted to train or play.

"Whilst it would have been possible to play elite-versus-non-elite fixtures under elite criteria with government support... fixtures involving all non-elite teams do not meet elite criteria and cannot currently go ahead," the FA said https://www.thefa.com/news/2021/jan/13/vitality-womens-fa-cup-update-20210113.

"Therefore, the competition will remain paused during the current lockdown, with a number of options currently being explored on how best to complete it."

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)