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With the country successfully containing the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese Basketball Association is confident that the highly anticipated restart of the domestic league will happen as early as July, said China's hoops chief Yao Ming.

With the country successfully containing the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese Basketball Association is confident that the highly anticipated restart of the domestic league will happen as early as July, said China's hoops chief Yao Ming.

The league, which has been locked out since February when the outbreak peaked in China, is preparing to resume the remainder of the 2019-20 season at closed-door tournaments in safe locations without fan attendance this summer, CBA chairman Yao revealed during a CCTV interview on Friday.

The priority for the restart is to make sure that the action won't compromise the country's hard-earned initial success in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Yao added.