A friendly btween Shandong Luneng and Shijiazhuang Ever Bright on July 11 Photo: VCG

The new COVID-19 cases in Dalian will not deter the return of the Chinese Super League (CSL) to action, a senior local government official said Thursday, as the coastal city in Northeast ­China's Liao­ning Province prepares to host the season opener between Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua on ­Saturday.

Luo Weixing, deputy secretary-general of Dalian, said in a news conference on Thursday that the CSL is operating well in Dalian and that the local government will strengthen cooperation with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to adopt necessary preventive measures. 

Prior to the new cases in Dalian, all the 1,870 players, coaches and staff from the 16 CSL teams, who have been divided into two groups to play games in Dalian and Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, tested negative for the coronavirus, the league organizers said Tuesday. 

Players and staff will also take nucleic acid tests weekly and antibody tests monthly after the league starts.

The players will be limited to hotels, training grounds and stadiums during their two months in the two cities.

That might sound tough, but the pep talk of Li Xiao­peng, head coach of Shandong Luneng, has become popular among the fans.

"If you compare it with previous seasons, this year is a bit longer," he said this week. "But if you compare the situation medical workers who helped fight the virus in the beginning of the outbreak, they had no idea when they could go home. At least now we know that in about 70 days we can leave."

In Suzhou, ­Wuhan Zall - a team based in ­Wuhan­, ­Central ­China's ­Hubei Province, where COVID-19 first emerged in China - will face CSL newcomers Qingdao Huanghai as the starter. 

Zall's preseason preparation was heavily impacted by COVID-19, as they had to spend more than 100 days outside of Wuhan after the city launched a lockdown in January. 

Without playing any friendlies during their training sessions on the road, they finally were able to return to Wuhan in April.

As fans are currently not able to attend games at the stadiums, social media and broadcasters have become their only lifeline to interact with the league.

The online broadcaster for CSL, PP Sports, has introduced a free-of-charge policy this season to replace its pay-per-view policy so fans can watch the games for free on portable devices.

There was also some good news for Chinese sports fans on Thursday. 

The CBA basketball game on Sunday in Qingdao, a host city of the resumed league, will be attended by a limited number of spectators.

Medical workers, teachers and public security personnel can apply for a ticket for the games at the Qingdao Guoxin Sports Center. Applicants must have tested negative on a nucleic acid test no more than 48 hours before the game.

If things go smoothly, hopefully football fans could also be able to watch the CSL games in person later this season. 
Newspaper headline: Ready for action