Society

Japan's soccer league restarts after 4 months

Jul 05 (NHK) - The top J1 division of Japan's professional soccer league, J.League, which postponed all official matches in February in response to the coronavirus outbreak, has resumed play without spectators.

At Saitama Stadium, where the match between Urawa Reds and Yokohama F. Marinos was held, league and club officials disinfected their hands and had their body temperatures measured with a thermograph.

In the absence of fans, the seats were covered with red plastic sheets bearing the Reds' emblem and messages from fans.

The club attracts the most spectators of all J.League teams.

All of Saturday's games started at or after 6 p.m.

As the players had their photos taken, they kept a social distance from each other.

The matches are being held without spectators until Wednesday. From Friday, the J. League plans to start admitting spectators with certain restrictions according to government guidelines.

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