President of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), Yao Ming, on Friday said it remains undecided when the CBA league season could resume, adding that "public health and fairness" are the top priorities.
The CBA league has been on hiatus since February 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yao said he hopes this season will continue with the original schedule "as much as possible".
"We have three plans, the first is to play the whole season, the second is to cut some games, the third is to end the regular season and start the playoffs with the league rankings right now," Yao said in an interview with China Central Television.
"We are considering a season play-in tournament, while isolating teams and players in closed stadiums and hotels. We will notify the teams 21 days before the league restarts, once we make the final decision," he added.
During the interview, Yao also expressed gratitude to the renowned Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan for his efforts to help restart the CBA league.
"Fortunately, our restart plan got help from the experts recommended by the academic Zhong. His wife is a former member of the national team, who gave us many useful suggestions. With their help, we are more confident of the CBA's return," Yao said.
Zhong, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is the head of a national team of experts set up for the control and prevention of COVID-19. Enditem
