Alabama Football Accused of Cheating for Sending Apple Watches to Players to Monitor Them

There are no sports taking place these days -- unless you're a fan of the Belarusian Premier League -- but Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are facing mounting criticism for one of their recent actions regardless.

During a conference call on Thursday, head coach Nick Saban revealed that his players were given Apple Watches with the purpose of monitoring their health during the coronavirus pandemic. However, certain coaches are crying foul, alleging that Alabama is exploiting a loophole in NCAA rules in doing so.

An anonymous source with knowledge of the NCAA's regulations during this strange period told USA TODAY that the Crimson Tide were indeed breaking the rules. The NCAA has yet to release a response regarding the accusations on an official basis.

The crux of the controversy is that the Southeastern Conference instructed the athletic programs at its 14 member schools that they are not allowed to have "virtual involvement with student-athletes." That means organizing and watching workouts is strongly prohibited; what this means for an Apple Watch, which can track certain biometric and performance data of its wearers is not entirely clear.

Alabama senior associate Athletic Director for compliance Matt Self released the following statement regarding the program's Apple Watch usage:

We won't know if Alabama is in the right or wrong when it comes to providing their athletes with health-tracking technology until the NCAA or SEC comes forward with a ruling. Until then, expect more coaches and programs to express their frustrations with Saban and the Crimson Tide -- or simply seek to emulate them.