Two months ago, before Japan was fully consumed by the surrealist hellscape of the COVID-19 pandemic, the J. League’s first division opened its 2020 season with 18 teams.
Now the league is doing all it can to ensure that when play resumes — whether that’s in late June or even July — it does so with those same 18 teams.
On Tuesday, the league announced it had established a commitment of credit, calling it “roughly equal” to its annual budget, which called for nearly $273 million in revenue and almost $285 million in expenses.