The 2020 Chinese Super League season was supposed to begin on Feb. 22 but was indefinitely postponed back in January because of the coronavirus outbreak. More recently, there’d been speculation that the new season could start in the coming weeks after locally transmitted cases reached zero, but the country could now face a second wave of the pandemic from people entering China from abroad.
Chinese football is inching towards a return to action, with teams resuming training this week, though questions remain over when exactly the country's top flight can kick off its coronavirus-delayed 2020 campaign.
Players often play at the highest level for several years and then slip away into the lower leagues, away from the public eye, and disappear under a shroud of irrelevancy. See if you can guess which player this is from the clues given.
Clue 1: This midfielder started his career in Brazil. When he played for Cruzeiro, he was known as the “Blue Kenyan” because of his incredible stamina.
Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been diagnosed with COVID-19 following his return to China, the Belgian's Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng announced on its official website on Sunday.
Fellaini, who joined Shandong last January from the English Premier League side, returned to the country on Friday to join up with his club and tested positive for the coronavirus. The former Belgium international did not have a fever and was asymptomatic, the club said, and has now been placed in quarantine.
Spain-based China international Wu Lei has confirmed he has tested positive for coronavirus but says he is on his way to making a full recovery.
The Chinese Football Association announced on Saturday that Wu, who plays for Espanyol in LaLiga, had contracted the coronavirus and the 28-year-old confirmed he is now self-isolating.
South Korea’s K League was scheduled to begin play this weekend, but the growing coronavirus outbreak in the country has led to the temporary postponement of the competition. Outside of China, South Korea has been hit hardest by the virus with 833 reported cases and seven deaths. The epicenter of the outbreak in South Korea is the southeastern city of Daegu.
Given the recent outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and across China, how much money would it take to get you to move to the epicenter of a pandemic that has infected 74,576 with 2,118 deaths?
For Sevilla vice-captain Daniel Carriço, that price was apparently met.
Carriço left the club he’s called home for seven years to join Wuhan Zall on a $2.16 million transfer on Thursday.
Arsenal threw Mesut Özil under the bus, but it wasn’t even enough to save the Gunners’ match against Manchester City on Sunday from being blacked out in China.
FIFA has once again chosen money over human rights. And FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s indifference is infuriating.
China will host the revamped, 24-team Club World Cup in 2021, FIFA announced Thursday, once again eschewing human rights in favor of handing coveted hosting rights to authoritarian governments.
When the Hong Kong national team hosted Iran in a World Cup qualifier in September, fans of the home side showed support for Iranian women, who are still fighting for the right to attend soccer matches in their home country. Even amidst the region’s turmoil and unrest with massive protests staged against the Chinese government, the fans found room to empathize with their opponents.