By JOHN WAWROW and STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writers

NHL players will not take part in the Winter Olympics after all.

A person with direct knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press the league is going to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics after its regular-season schedule was disrupted by coronavirus outbreaks.

More than 40 games have been postponed over the past week because of positive COVID-19 test results among players.

The NHL, upon agreeing last year to Olympic participation, reserved the right to withdraw if pandemic conditions worsened.

The decision means a second consecutive Olympics without NHL players after they participated five times from 1998 to 2014.