Own goal? Turkmenistan restarts football league

As the coronavirus forces lockdowns across the world, several hundred soccer fans gathered in a stadium in Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, to attend a domestic league match, Radio Free Europe reported.

Turkmenistan joined two other nations in continuing their football seasons – Belarus and Tajikistan. Belarusia's authorities are allowing fans to attend matches, but Tajikistan's are not.

Turkmenistan has yet to declare a case of Covid-19, although Channel News Asia reports that there is concern the country's authorities are underplaying the threat of the virus. On Sunday they joined the small handful of countries around the world to continue hosting sports events amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as its domestic football season restarted.

Following a short break, Turkmenistan on April 19 rebooted its eight-team soccer league with a clash between Altyn Asyr and Kopetdag, less than a month after suspending it.

Around 300 people attended a top-of-the table clash between last season's champions Altyn Asyr and league leaders Kopetdag in a 20,000-capacity stadium in the capital Ashgabat. Photo: AFP

The Sports Ministry has said the decision to reopen the soccer season "pleased the army of fans" and was welcomed by players.

Turkmenistan's government sealed off Ashgabat on March 20 without any public announcement by authorities or state media about the reasons for the closure.