KBO games canceled as Olympic players receive vaccines

[KBO]

The KBO has canceled all five games scheduled for Tuesday to give players included on the preliminary entry for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics time to recover after receiving their Covid-19 vaccines.

Of the 154 players on the preliminary roster for the Tokyo Olympics baseball team, 116 were due to receive the Pfizer vaccine on Monday. To allow the players time to rest, scheduled games have all been canceled with play due to resume on Wednesday, or Children's Day.

Players that have been vaccinated will also be given special dispensation when it comes to normal injury rules, with teams able to add and remove them from the roster if they experience side effects without having to follow the 10-day injured list protocol.

The LG Twins and Doosan Bears were due to play at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, Lotte Giants and Kia Tigers at Sajik in Busan, SSG Landers and NC Dinos in Changwon, KW Wiz and Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, and Samsung Lions and Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon.

The canceled games will be rescheduled at the end of the regular season in October.

The baseball tournament at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics is set to begin on July 21. A final 24-man roster to represent Korea at the Games will be named in June.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]