J-League restarts after coronavirus pandemic halts play for 4 months

Japan's professional soccer league restarted on Saturday after a four-month break caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

All 18 top-flight teams were in action, and the nine games were played without fans. Japan's popular pro baseball league restarted last month, also without fans.

The first division of the J-League suspended play in February after only one round of matches had been played.

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It is expected to gradually start allowing fans to enter later this month although that could be slowed with Tokyo reporting a steady increase in Covid-19 cases.

Japan has reported just under 1,000 deaths from the virus, in a population of 126 million. This compares to almost 130,000 in the United States with a population of 330 million.

A key J-League match saw defending champion Yokohama facing the Urawa Reds in Saitama, just on the outskirts of Tokyo.