SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's K League will have a profile it has never enjoyed before when the delayed 2020 season kicks off in Jeonju on Friday, providing top-flight soccer action to a world starved of live sport.
Defending champions Jeonbuk Motors open the season when they host Korean FA Cup holders Suwon Bluewings at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in a fixture put back more than two months by the coronavirus outbreak.
"I expect sports to give hope to the people desiring the recovery of their daily lives as early as possible," the country's President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday. "About a week ago, we decided to get everyone, players and coaching staff, tested for the coronavirus so that there will be little or no risk of infection even if there's contact," Lee Jong-kwoun, the K League's head of communication, told Reuters on Thursday.
The league is passing on the lessons they have learned to other professional leagues around the world through their safety manual, Lee said.The K League is hoping fans will be able to return to stadiums before too long in a season cut to 27 rounds from 38 because of the COVID-19 delay. "Fortunately we've been getting world attention by being able to open the season a bit early, and we're hoping that through this world exposure, we'll be trying to generate more sponsorship and broadcast revenue."
Jeonbuk have also won the K League for six of the last seven years, making them strong favourites to win the title again this year under Portuguese coach Jose Morais, once Jose Mourinho's assistant at Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea.
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