World News
Japanese pro league delays start of baseball season due to virus
Japan’s professional baseball season won’t start on time due to the spread of the coronavirus. Spectator stands are empty during a Nippon Professional Baseball preseason game at the Tokyo Dome on Feb. 19. On Monday, officials announced the league would postpone the start of its season until April because of concerns about coronavirus. (Eugene Hoshiko/Associated…
Japan's professional baseball season won't start on time due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Japan's professional baseball season won't start on time due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Officials of Nippon Professional Baseball announced Monday that the season, originally scheduled to open on March 20, will not get underway until some time in April at the earliest.
“I personally believe that we have no choice but to postpone at this stage,” commissioner Atsushi Saito said.
Japan's 12 major league teams had been playing their spring training games without fans.
The coronavirus, or CoVID19, has infected about 108,000 people worldwide and killed about 3,800 in 93 countries, according to CNN's latest figures Monday.
Brits have no plans to cancel events
The British government said it currently had no plans to cancel or close off sporting events due to the coronavirus epidemic, after meeting sports bodies and broadcasters on Monday.
Dozens of major and minor sports events have already been called off around the world, or been forced to go ahead with no spectators present.
Britain's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said there had been discussion of contingency plans to cancel events or stage them behind closed doors “should the situation change and become necessary.”
“However, based upon the current scientific advice from the government's medical experts, there is no rationale to close or cancel sporting events as things stand,” it said.
Among major sporting events scheduled in Britain in the next month are: in horse racing, the Cheltenham festival starting on Tuesday and the Grand National steeplechase on April 4; in soccer, regular Premier League matches and FA Cup and European Champions League ties; in rugby union, the final round of the Six Nations championship on March 14, although the only one of the three matches still going ahead is Wales vs Scotland.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Britain stood at 319 on Monday, up 46, the health ministry said. (
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