BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Viera High School's football game against South Fork on Friday is canceled as an investigation of an alleged hazing incident continues, a Brevard Public Schools spokesman said Wednesday.

The move, disclosed in an email to Central Florida media outlets, comes two days after the district suspended the school's varsity and junior varsity football team and relieved Shane Staples of his duties as head coach.

What You Need To Know

  • Viera High's football game Friday has been canceled, a Brevard schools spokesperson said

  • The status of future games will be decided at a later date, the spokesperson said

  • The cancellation is because of an ongoing investigation into an alleged hazing incident

  • The football team has been allowed to return to practice, the spokesperson said

The football team was allowed to return to practice, the spokesperson said. A decision on the status of future football games will be made at a later date, the spokesperson said.

District officials did not reveal details of what is alleged to have happened during the hazing incident, but Superintendent Mark Rendell said Monday, "Hazing, bullying, and intimidation have no place in Brevard Public Schools."

The investigation remains active, district officials said.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Monday his office is conducting a criminal investigation. According to a timeline reported in a statement by Ivey, the incident first took place Aug. 14, but  "the school administration did not learn of the incident until late in the evening on Wednesday the 16th."

Ivey said district officials told the sheriff's office that on Aug. 17 they "took immediate action to ensure the safety of the students who were targeted, address those responsible for the incident, and review any failure of staff or policy, that could have prevented the incident from happening."

According to the Viera High School Hawks official X account — formerly known as Twitter — the team played two half-games on Aug. 18 during a kickoff jamboree at the New Smyrna Sports Complex, beating Seabreeze and Merritt Island 27-12 and 42-21, respectively. 

At a meeting Tuesday, parents of players on the football team, marching band members, cheerleaders and others associated with football activities at the school — as well as players not suspected in the incident — some people said they were concerned that the entire season could be canceled. They said that action would not be fair to those affected who were not involved in the incident because of all the work that already had been put in to prepare for the season.