China's LPL moves online after coronavirus delays matches

• China's League of Legends Pro League will broadcast online scrims from 26th Feb.
• Matches will be played in LPL's Bo3 format.
• Top Esports, JD Gaming, Suning, Victory and eStar expected to play.
• Matches will be played over four days, with two matches each day.

China's League of Legends Pro League is still officially on hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak, but fans of the competition needn't wait too much longer to see their teams in actions as the LPL has announced a series of broadcasted online scrims between LPL teams beginning on the 26th February, according to the league's official Twitter account.

Matches will follow the leagues Bo3 format and the initial test will feature five of the sixteen teams that make up China's premier League of Legends competition.

eStar, JD Gaming, Suning, Top Esports and Victory Star will play matches over a four day period, with two matches scheduled for each day.

The LPL was set to return on the 5th February after a two-week break for the Lunar New Year. However, as fears of the virus spreading increased, and travel in the region was restricted, the decision was made on 25th January to delay the restart of the league.

The virus, which is centred around Wuhan and the surrounding areas in Hubei Province, has infected over 74,000 people and caused 2,000 deaths and while the latest reports have suggested a slow down in the daily rise of cases there are still fears that further outbreaks could happen.

Travel bans and quarantines, put in place since the Lunar New Year holiday, have left some players unable to travel back to Shanghai, the home of the LPL, and their organisations' geolocated cities - further hampering the restart of the league.

The LPL is not the only league that has had to reschedule their tournaments. The Overwatch League recently moved their March and April homestands which were due to be played in the Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shanghai to Seoul, South Korea.