THE Chinese Super League season will begin July 25 after the coronavirus pandemic delayed it by five months, China’s football association said yesterday.

It is a major boost for sport in China and another sign of life returning to normality in the country after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 16-team league, which had been originally due to kick off in February, will be played under a different format instead of the usual home-and-away competition.

Clubs will be split into two groups, one in the northeastern city of Dalian and the other in Suzhou, near Shanghai, the China Football Association (CFA) said.

The CFA said the league would “strictly abide by the requirements of national epidemic prevention work.”

But the CFA statement did not say whether fans would be allowed to attend, or which teams will play in each group in the revamped format.

The CSL, which has drawn international interest in recent years by luring big-name players and coaches with world-leading wages, had been scheduled to start Feb. 22.

However, it became one of the first sporting victims of the coronavirus in January when the new season was indefinitely postponed.

The CFA said in February that it would introduce an extra transfer window before the league started to help clubs struggling to complete player transfers due to the outbreak.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) became the first professional sports league in China to resume June 20, although no fans are allowed to attend matches.

The CBA has similarly divided up into two groups in two cities to prevent the spread of infections.

There has only been one confirmed coronavirus case among Chinese Super League players — Shandong Luneng’s former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini.

The Belgian international tested positive in March, just after returning to China for the new season, and spent three weeks in hospital.

Chinese clubs have endured a long pre-season as they awaited the new campaign, with most beginning their disrupted preparations at the start of the year.

The defending champion is Guangzhou Evergrande, coached by Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro. Cash-strapped Tianjin Tianhai disbanded during the shutdown and will be replaced by Roberto Donadoni’s Shenzhen FC.(SD-Agencies)