The coronavirus-delayed Chinese Super League could kick off next month but without some leading foreign stars including Paulinho and Marko Arnautovic, the country's football president has warned.
The CSL became one of the first sporting victims of the pandemic in January when its February 22 start date was indefinitely postponed.
It could now begin in late June but might have to do so with numerous foreign coaches and players missing because of temporary restrictions on entering the country, Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan said.
"This is truly a dilemma because as we know, one third of the foreign players and even some coaches haven't come back yet," Chen told state broadcaster CCTV.
"Frankly speaking we will take this into consideration when starting games but we won't wait for them all to get back before we kick off or else it will be unfair to other clubs.
"As long as we're fully prepared in terms of epidemic prevention and control, we'll actively start."
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