JAPAN’S professional baseball and soccer leagues will begin allowing fans this week, the heads of both leagues said yesterday.

Soccer and baseball officials said the first day with fans will be Friday. The maximum number will be 5,000 or 50 percent of the stadium capacity — whichever is smaller.

Officials said they plan to allow stadiums to be filled to 50 percent capacity beginning Aug. 1.

“We will keep a close eye on this guideline to see if it changes significantly,” said Mitsuru Murai, head of Japan’s soccer league, the J-League. “If there are no major changes, we’ll proceed with the original plan.”

Mitsuo Kaku, a professor at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, was optimistic in an online news conference with league officials.

“Of course, we have to keep an eye on the infection situation, but I think it is necessary to try this,” he said. “We are in the situation where we need to continue to run social and economic activities while managing risks.”(SD-Agencies)