League of Legends' Chinese Professional League, commonly known as the LPL, will resume on March 9 after being suspended in January amid the spread of the Covid-19 (commonly known as coronavirus) epidemic in parts of China, the LPL organization tweeted the announcement earlier today, It explained that the series will resume, but that the games will not be open to the public and will instead be streamed online.

"The remainder of the 2020 LPL Spring Split Matches will be held online until the esport venues are safely back in use. "Players will participate in the matches from their respective clubs' headquarters. The only exception will be players in isolated provinces, who are currently unable to go out.

The LPL tournament will resume on March 9, but the first broadcast will be in Chinese only (but still viewable). English-language broadcasts will resume a few days later, on March 15.

The post explains that referees will be on site whenever possible to ensure the fairness and equity of each match. However, this is still a very different format. Until now, LPL matches (like most of the League of Legends professional circuit) have always been held in front of a live audience at the tournament site. Matches held online open up new areas of potential inconvenience and technical difficulties. It is not clear how this will affect the various teams and their ability to compete. For example, players must first complete a 14-day monitored quarantine period and meet all local health requirements before they can compete in league matches.

According to the LPL, this online-only arrangement will only last until the end of the Spring Split, which ends on March 30; the LPL's Summer Split should begin in June, but if the coronavirus outbreak is not contained, it is likely to remain online only.

Still, it's good to see Chinese League of Legends pros back in competition, even if fans can't attend in person. IEM Katowice, the other major gaming competition this weekend, has also just announced that it will be online-only and not open to the public after its license was revoked by the Polish government due to coronavirus concerns.

LPL games can be watched on Twitch; exact times for the first game on March 9 have not been announced.