TOKYO (AP) Japan's professional baseball league says it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus.
The regular season is to open on March 20.
The virus that began in China is disrupting all of the country's sports schedules and has raised concerns about the Tokyo Olympics. They are to open on July 24 followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25.
Representatives of the baseball league's 12 teams made the move at a special meeting on Wednesday.
“This was a bitter decision to make,” Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Commissioner Atsushi Saito as saying.