Crowds on spot as football resumes in Turkmenistan

Moscow, April 20 (IANS) Around 400 spectators were on spot to watch the game between Altyn Asyr and Kopetdag in a 20,000-capacity stadium in the capital, Ashgabat as football league resumed in Turkmenistan on Sunday.The match was the first fixture played in the domestic league since March 20, reports Xinhua news agency. The Central Asian nation decided to lift a suspension of its national league last week. As usual, attendance was free.The eight-team league was suspended on March 24 amid the coronavirus pandemic.Turkmenistan is one of the few countries in the world which have not reported any cases of the new coronavirus.Three ex-Soviet states have bucked the global trend for suspending professional leagues -- Belarus, Tajikistan and now, Turkmenistan.Tajikistan has begun its season with matches held behind closed doors.
--IANS aak/