Football: J-League wraps up season of obstacles, new records

Dec 20, 2020 | News On Japan

Dec 20, 2020 (Kyodo) - The J-League first division brought down the curtain Saturday on a 2020 season marked by unprecedented challenges stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, and a record-breaking march to the title by three-time champions Kawasaki Frontale.

The season's fate looked uncertain when the league suspended play with the J1 and J2 barely under way in late February, before a wave of coronavirus infections across Japan.

Teams returned to the pitch some four months later, initially without spectators, playing twice a week as part of a tightly packed, redrawn schedule.

Kawasaki burst out of the blocks from the restart, making the most of the new conditions, including an increase in the maximum number of substitutes, from three to five per game, which had been instituted to limit injuries amid the frantic schedule.

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