K League matches postponed amid outbreak

Upcoming professional football matches in Korea’s southeastern region have been postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus.

The K League announced Friday that the Feb. 29 home opener for Daegu FC in Daegu, 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Seoul, and the March 1 home match for Pohang Steelers in Pohang, about 80 kilometers east of Daegu, have been pushed back.

They will be played either later in March or in June.

The decision was reached at a meeting of league executives and representatives from the 12 K League 1 clubs, in response to a recent surge in the number of novel coronavirus infections in Daegu and neighboring North Gyeongsang.

The region is home to three K League 1 clubs: Daegu FC, Pohang Steelers and Sangju Sangmu. Sangju’s home opener is on March 7.

The 2020 K League season will open with three matches on Feb. 29 and three more on March 1. The league office said matches outside Daegu and North Gyeongsang will go on as scheduled, though they may also be affected depending on the spread of the virus.

The Asian Football Confederation also announced on Friday that Korea and China will play one of the two-legged playoff series of the Olympic qualifier scheduled to be played on March 6 and 11, at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney.

Korea will host the first leg at Yongin Citizen Sports Park, but the second leg will be played in Australia, instead of China, because of concerns about the coronavirus.

Yonhap