World Soccer - UK 2020-05)

T

he East Asian football scene

was the first to be affected by

the coronavirus outbreak and

it is the first to start seriously

thinking about when, and how, to get

back on the pitch.

China, South Korea and Japan first

postponed games in February and were

all hopeful of starting in May, but it is

touch and go whether that will happen.

The Chinese Super League was

scheduled to start on February 22 and

there were rumours of a planned April 18

return, but that always seemed optimistic.

By the end of March, however, all 16 top-

tier teams were back in the country,

going through the mandatory 14-day

quarantine period and preparing to start

serious training. That said, it was only the

Chinese players that were back – around

50 foreign players and coaches were still

overseas after being allowed to return to

their home countries.

The April restart was definitely out

of the window when it emerged on March

22 that one of these, Marouane Fellaini,

had become the first in the

league to test positive.

The Belgian had scored all of

Shandong Luneng’s goals in four

pre-season games in Dubai and

then returned to his homeland

before travelling to Morocco and

the Maldives. Catching a flight

from Singapore to Shanghai,

he then took a train north to

Jinan, where he was placed

in quarantine and then tested.

With the number of cases in

China falling after the outbreak

started in December, it seemed

to confirm fears that a second wave

of infections could come from people

entering the country from overseas. With

China announcing that foreigners would

not be allowed to enter the country from

March 28, all the top-tier clubs were

frantically trying to get their stars back

before the ban was put in place.

That was easier said than done. Brazil

to China is a trek at the best of times, but

with aircraft being

grounded and

governments

tightening travel

restrictions it

started to look

almost impossible. Shanghai SIPG

chartered a plane to bring back Oscar,

Hulk and Ricardo Lopes from Brazil and

they arrived with just 11 minutes to spare,

but Marko Arnautovic did not make it.

Clubs have been trying to get special

permission for their players to return but

it remains to be seen if such efforts prove

successful. And it is not only players.

Tianjin Teda coach Uli Stielike couldn’t

return because a member of his

household in Germany had tested

positive, so he was self-isolating for two

weeks and could not catch a plane. He

still faces another 14 days when he

eventually returns to the Chinese port

city. “This is the worst,” said the German.

There has been much debate about

a restart but no date has been set. While

cities around the country slowly start to

return to something approaching normal,

football officials are desperate not to

start too soon and are scared of helping

a second wave of infections spread. On

March 31 the General Administration for

Sport said that there would be no sport

in the “‘near future”. And when it does

come, empty stadiums are likely.

Privately, Chinese officials say they

would be happy to see South Korea start

first, while Seoul would rather Beijing did.

Korea has been working hard to keep

the virus under control and, from a

practical point of view, seems close to

a restart. But taking the step emotionally

is tricky, especially with a public that is

growing increasingly tired of the battle

against coronavirus.

After years of falling attendances, last

season saw K-League crowds actually

start to climb. To get the timing wrong

would be a public-relations disaster and

a late March meeting did not give a date

for the start of a season that was due

to kick off on February 29. It was

agreed, however, that the campaign will

be shorter than usual, perhaps reduced

from 38 to 27 games.

Japan actually managed to play the

first game of the season in February with

Vissel Kobe asking spectators not to sing,

jump around or wave flags. The league

was soon postponed, first to April 3 and

then to May 9, with talk of no

away fans and home fans having

empty seats on all four sides.

But cases were rising by the

end of March and the Olympics

were postponed. On March

30, Vissel Kobe’s Gotoku Sakai

became the first player from

the J.League to test positive.

Four days later, league chairman

Mitsuru Murai admitted that it

would be difficult to start in May.

June now looks to be the

earliest restart date but nobody

really knows.

Coronavirus in football

Chinese officials say they would be

happy to see South Korea start first;

Seoul would rather Beijing did

J.League first...

Gotoku Sakai

Back...Shanghai SIPG chartered a plane for Hulk (left) and Oscar