Virus-hit China football faces difficult return

SHANGHAI: With nagging concerns about coronavirus sweeping through teams and players scattered across the world, unable or hesitant to return, China is finding that restarting football is no simple matter. The problems faced by China, one of the first countries to suspend football and the epicentre of the pandemic, could be a glimpse into the future for other leagues called off around the world.

The Chinese Super League (CSL) was a harbinger of the collapse of global sport when officials announced in January that the February 22 start date had been indefinitely postponed. Last week there were claims that with the peak of coronavirus -- which emerged in China in December -- seemingly over in the country, the CSL could start on April 18. May 2 was also mentioned.

But then came the first confirmed coronavirus case in Chinese football, a Brazilian in the second tier, one of a wave of imported cases that has put China on alert for a second virus emergency.

And on Sunday former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, now with Shandong Luneng, said he had tested positive, becoming the first known case in the CSL. On Thursday the respected Soccer News said the season has now been pushed back to late May or early June.

However, tough government restrictions announced later Thursday that partially seal off China, reducing international flights and barring foreigners, throw even those dates into question.

Suggestions that basketball, the other major sport in China, could restart in early April have also fizzled out, dealing a blow to government attempts to portray China as getting back to normal. “If more cases occur in the future, the date of the Chinese Super League restart will be postponed again,” Soccer News warned.