E.European basketball league ends season over outbreak

ANKARA

The VTB United League, covering Eastern European basketball, has cancelled the remainder of its 2019-2020 season as the world grapples with the impact of coronavirus.

''Upon online voting, the Board of the League has decided to terminate season 2019/20 due to negative developments in COVID-19 outbreak,'' the organization said on its website Friday.

Since the regular season has not been completed and teams played different number of matches, no club will be crowned 2019-2020 season champions, said Ilona Korstin, the league’s head.

''Considering the European and global outbreak of COVID-19, it’s far more important to ensure safety of the players, their families, clubs’ staff and of course the fans,'' she added.

The VTB United League, also known as the Eastern European Professional Basketball League, functions under the umbrella of the governing body of world basketball FIBA.

Apart from Russian clubs, the league includes several teams from Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Poland.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December and has spread to at least 176 countries and territories.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 542,000, while the death toll is over 24,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.