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It was inevitable that sport events would start to suffer with the spread of the coronavirus in South Korea.
The country's basketball league will play out the remainder of the season behind closed doors though the teams have played around 40 games of the 54 game-campaign. The season is set to end March 31. The football tournament, the K-League was due to start this weekend.
That is now not going to happen. Last Friday, the league decided to postpone games involving teams from the southeastern region, the city of Daegu has had the majority of cases so far, but on Monday, with the government raising its alert level to "red" the previous day, the decision was extended to the entire league.
What happens next depends on how long it takes for the virus to be safely contained. There are 38 league games to be played over the coming nine months. International breaks, when the national team plays qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and friendly games, means that there is some flexibility and scope for rescheduling.
If we reach the end of March with no games however then it is possible that the number of games will be reduced. There is always the option of the 12 teams simply playing each other once to create a season of 22 games. That gives the league considerable leeway.
"This is the right decision," said Gangwon FC coach Kim Byung-soo. "We have prepared well for the season but this virus can't be taken lightly. It is more important than the start of the season."
There are other issues to consider. If domestic arrangements can be rescheduled without too much pain then there are more complex international commitments. The Asian Champions League has already seen teams from China, where the coronavirus originated, have their first three games postponed to April and May.
Despite the suspension of the K-League, FC Seoul will still host Chiangrai United of Thailand next Tuesday and Ulsan Horangi will welcome Australia's Perth Glory on Wednesday. Both games will be played in empty stadiums as fans have to stay away. If the situation grows worse then it is possible that these games could be rescheduled too.
Then there are 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Korea is due to host Turkmenistan, March 26, and then travels to Sri Lanka five days later. China has already moved its games against Guam and the Maldives to Thailand and it could be that the Taeguk Warriors will move to a third country.
China's women's team has already requested that its playoff qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics be relocated outside Korea.
China and Korea meet in a two-leg clash March 6 and March 11 with the winner going to Japan. The Chinese leg has already been moved to Australia and earlier this week, the Chinese team asked that the game in Korea, due to take place in Yongin, just outside Seoul, also take place elsewhere.
Things are still up in the air but one thing is for sure, there is not going to be much football played in South Korea in the coming weeks.
