Coronavirus delays Africa basketball session in Senegal

ANKARA (AA) - The Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Wednesday announced it delayed the inauguration season, scheduled for March 13 in Senegal’s capital, Dakar due to coronavirus-related health concerns.

“Following the recommendation of the Senegalese government regarding the escalating health concerns related to the coronavirus, the BAL’s inaugural season will be postponed,” the BAL's President Amadou Gallo Fall said in a statement.

Fall added that the launch of the basketball season will be “at a later date,” without giving further details.

The move comes one day after Senegal confirmed the second case of coronavirus which has come to the country from France. It was the third case in sub-Saharan Africa after another one was confirmed in Nigeria, according to media reports.

Inauguration of the BAL 2020 season is scheduled to be held with the participation of 12 African teams representing Senegal, Mali, Morocco, Cameroon, Angola, Nigeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Rwanda, according to the Rwanda-based New Times online news site.

First detected in Wuhan, China in December, the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has spread to at least 73 countries.

The global death toll from the virus is over 3,000, with more than 89,000 infected.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency, last week the World Health Organization raised the global risk level to very high.

As part of their efforts to contain the outbreak, many governments have closed their borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-affected countries such as China and Italy.