Adelaide United chairman Piet van der Pol said the coronavirus has affected the Reds sister club Qingdao Red Lions
Adelaide United’s sister club Qingdao Red Lions has had its Chinese league 2 season postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus, says Reds chairman Piet van der Pol.
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Adelaide United chairman Piet van der Pol has revealed the Reds sister Chinese club Qingdao Red Lions pre-season has been affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Van der Pol said none of the staff or players had been infected by the illness.
The World Health Organisation last month released a global coronavirus emergency alert after it was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31.
The virus according to the WHO are a large family of viruses found in both animals and humans where there has been a reported 2118 number of fatalities nationwide.
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It is known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Qingdao, in the Shandong Province where the Red Lions, former club of Adelaide United Chinese visa player Yongbin Chen, are based is about 1100 km away from Wuhan.
"Everyone in China has been affected by the coronavirus in various capacities,’’ van der Pol said.
"Shandong province has had multiple cases of coronavirus, but minimal deaths out of a population of almost 100 million people,’’
"No players or staff have currently been infected by the coronavirus and are all healthy.”
“The start of the competition has been postponed from the middle of March to, presumably, early-May.
“Currently there are no training sessions taking place, but we expect to recommence shortly.”
Van der Pol a frequent traveller to China since taking ownership of the club said he had stopped travelling to China.
"Yes, but in fact more for practical reasons as I will not be able to travel back to my family and, besides that, training sessions and office operations at Qingdao Red Lions are very limited for the time being," he said.