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Preseason in Japan could start without foreign players
Havana, January 7 (RHC/JIT)-- Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) commissioner Atsushi Saito warned on Thursday that the league's spring training, scheduled to start on February 1, could begin without the presence of foreign players from each team, like last year.
The Japanese government is currently banning foreign nationals from entering the country due to the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and it is not known when the ban will be lifted. It is also not known when international players will be able to report to their respective clubs.
Last year began with the expectation that everything would return to normal after the delay caused by the new coronavirus to the 2020 season. However, at the end of January a new wave of contagions forced the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency and close its borders.
As a result, most foreign players entered the country in mid-March and did not start playing until the end of April, a month after the start of the regular campaign. It is feared that something similar will happen this time around.
Saito explained that the league will try to negotiate with the government an exception that will allow foreign athletes to enter the country to perform their duties, but there is no guarantee that the request will be accepted.
The regular campaign will begin on Friday, March 25 with six games. Interleague games will be spread over three weeks starting on May 24.
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