China's LoL Pro League announced on Friday that it will be resuming official League of Legends pro play March 9. Matches will be played online until the league can safely clear esports venues due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China.
The English broadcast of the LPL will resume on March 15. Until then, the Chinese broadcast will be streamed on the LPL English Twitch and YouTube channels.
All LPL players will be required to complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine period and pass all local health requirements to ensure their physical health and that they are free of the virus. Players will participate in matches via their club headquarters unless they are in quarantined provinces like Hubei, where the virus originated, and are unable to travel due to travel bans. On-site referees will be used whenever available to ensure the fairness and competitive integrity of the league.
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Some teams, like EDward Gaming, began the quarantine process earlier and now the players who were able to travel have already passed quarantine.
On January 25, both the LPL and its semi-pro league, the LoL Development League, were suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus. On Feb. 18, the LPL announced that it would be broadcasting scrims between LPL teams live on their broadcast channels.
Currently, the LPL is on it's third day of these unofficial scrims, which have been streamed live on the Chinese LPL broadcast stream. These scrims included five teams -- Top Esports, Victory Five, Suning, eStar, and JD Gaming -- and while not part of the official LPL broadcast, were viewed by many as a preliminary test of an online LPL split.
The coronavirus continues to affect professional esports around the world. In South Korea's LoL Champions Korea, audiences haven't been allowed since the start of the season. On Feb. 25, the LCK press room was closed to journalists until further notice.
IEM recently announced that their world championship in Katowice, Poland would have no live audience, due to a mandate from the Polish government regarding the virus. Overwatch League team Seoul Dynasty cancelled their upcoming homestands due to further outbreak in South Korea. Previously, the league had cancelled all Chinese homestands in March and April.