Coronavirus sees Overwatch League matches pulled in South Korea

A series of eSports matches which were moved from China to South Korea after a coronavirus outbreak have been postponed as the fallout from Covid-19 continues.

Three matches in the Overwatch League (OWL) were moved from cities in China to Seoul, while the city was due to host home fixtures for the Dynasty in March.

These have all been postponed after a sharp increase in the number of cases of Covid-19 in South Korea.

The league said: “In order to protect the health and safety of our players, fans, & staff, we are cancelling plans to host OWL 2020 matches in South Korea in Weeks 5, 6, and 7, including the Seoul Dynasty home event.

“We’ll share more info about when and where matches will take place at a later.”

South Korea reported 161 more cases of the virus in the city of Daegu, bringing the nation’s total to 763 cases and seven confirmed deaths from the outbreak.

This is the first year for OWL’s unprecedented global schedule including host matches for its 20 city-based franchises in Asia, North America and Europe.

The Dynasty are the only franchise based in eSports-obsessed South Korea.

The team had planned to host matches between March 7-22 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and the next OWL matches scheduled in Seoul are May 9-10.