Pro Baseball Exhibition Games Fully Canceled Due to COVID-19

At Gwangju KIA Champions Field, spectators are cheering for the SK Wyverns and KIA Tigers during the 2019 professional baseball exhibition game. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Seul-gi] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spreads nationwide, all schedules (50 games) of the 2020 professional baseball exhibition games have been canceled.

On the 27th, the KBO Secretariat announced, "Recently, COVID-19 has been elevated to a serious level, and confirmed cases have increased nationwide due to community transmission. Therefore, the KBO and the 10 teams have decided to cancel all exhibition games scheduled to open on March 14, prioritizing the safety of players and spectators."

According to the 2020 KBO exhibition game schedule, exhibition games were planned on March 14 at Gocheok Sky Dome, Daejeon Hanwha Eagles Park, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Gwangju KIA Champions Field, and Changwon NC Park, respectively.

This is the first time since the launch of professional baseball in 1982 that the entire exhibition game schedule has been canceled.

The KBO plans to hold an emergency executive committee meeting on March 3 to discuss the regular season operation plan related to COVID-19, and then hold a board meeting to finalize the operation plan.

The KBO and the 10 professional baseball teams stated, "We will do our best to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 by managing the safety of players currently training at overseas spring camps and domestic remaining squads, disinfecting stadium facilities, and installing thermal cameras."

The opening of the 2020 professional baseball season is scheduled for March 28.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.