Sports calendar disrupted in Japan and South Korea amid virus outbreak

Taiyo Koga of Kashiwa Reysol (L) and Musashi Suzuki of Consadole Sapporo shake hands during the J League kick-off conference in Tokyo, Japan, February 14, 2020. /VCG

A number of sports events in Japan and South Korea have been affected by concerns over the

fast-spreading coronavirus

.

The Nagoya women's marathon, due to take place on March 8, has canceled all general public entries and will go ahead with the race for elite runners only because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, the organizers said in a statement on Friday.

They said that the entry fee will not be refunded to registered runners and they will not guarantee a place in next year's event.

The Nagoya City Marathon, which was scheduled on the same day specially for the amateur entrees, was canceled.

The two races, which were expected to have approximately 40,000 runners participating, will hold a full marathon event online using a smartphone app.

The Nagoya races became the second marathon to cancel general public entries after the

Tokyo Marathon

, one of the world's biggest.

Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi (C) in action during a friendly between Juventus and K League All Stars in Seoul, South Korea, July 26, 2019. /VCG

Meanwhile, Japanese football club Consadole Sapporo will postpone the general sale of tickets for J-League home games.

Football officials will step up measures to avoid the spread of the disease at this weekend's season-opening fixtures, according to J-League chairman Mitsuru Murai.

The South Korean top flight K-League will also postpone next week's opening home matches for Daegu FC and Pohang Steelers due to a surge of coronavirus cases in the southeastern region.

After a meeting of league executives and representatives from the 12 clubs, the K-League said Daegu's season opener against Gangwon FC on February 29 and Pohang's meeting with Busan IPark on March 1 will be played later in March or June.

(With input from agencies)