Korea's pro baseball league KBO to open season on 5 May

Korea's pro baseball league KBO to open season on 5 May
21/04/2020
KBO's opening day will be held behind closed doors. The league will consider opening to fans according to the development of COVID-19 cases. The teams will have to follow guidelines.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) will open the 2020 regular season on Tuesday, 5 May. Opening day will feature five games, all played at 2 pm local time (7 am CET, 1 am US Eastern Time) and closed to the public. 2019 KBO champions Doosan Bears will start the season at home facing the LG Twins.

KBO's opening day was originally scheduled for 28 March, prior to it being postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The FULL SCHEDULE

KBO announced that the league is considering allowing fans to enter the stadiums at a later stage. The decision will be based on the development of COVID-19 cases.

KBO plans to play the full 144-game regular season unless a new COVID-19 outbreak emerges. In the event of weather delays and postponements, makeup games will be scheduled on Mondays. When doubleheaders are scheduled, teams will be allowed to expand rosters. Doubleheaders won't be scheduled in July and August.

The league cancelled the July All-Star Game and reduced the semi-play off series, the games between the winner of the one-game wild-card playoff and the third-place finisher of the regular season, to a best of three.

KBO distributed to each team a COVID-19 Manual that highlights nine major recommendations. Team members will be required to minimize contact with outsiders. They will be required to run a fever test once a day and to complete a daily self-checklist through a league mobile app. Players and coaches will be required to refrain from bare hand contact. Spitting will be strongly prohibited.

Everybody allowed into the venues will have to wear a face mask. Once on the field or in the dugout, players, coaches and officials will be allowed to remove the masks.

KBO is a proud WBSC Associate Member. The league is the top sports championship in Korea. The 2019 season enjoyed a total attendance of 7,286,008.

Photo courtesy of KBO.

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