The NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills will not be continued or repeated after the drama surrounding Bills professional Damar Hamlin. This was announced by the North American Football League.

The game was stopped on Monday when the Bengals were 7-3 after Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field and required CPR.

"It's been a very difficult week. We remain focused on Damar Hamlin's recovery and are encouraged by his improved health," said NFL boss Roger Goodell.

Hamlin, 24, remains in the intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Cincinnati but has now woken up and is "neurologically fine," the Bills said.

NFL develops different scenarios

The NFL explained its decision not to continue the game with the fact that the Bengals and Bills already qualified for the playoffs, among other things. In addition, if the game had continued, the start of the finals would have had to be postponed, which would have affected all 14 playoff teams. The last main round game day of the NFL will take place next weekend, and the playoffs will begin on January 14th.

The Bills and Bengals will only have played 16 regular-season games instead of 17. To mitigate "potential injustices" in the table, the NFL has come up with various scenarios that team owners will vote on. Accordingly, the game for the title in the AFC will be played at a neutral location under certain conditions.

The best team in the two conferences receives a bye in the first playoff round. In the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs still have the chance to have the best record of the main round. The Bengals, meanwhile, have secured their division title after the game was abandoned.

NFL press release