Over 100 matches from next season's Chinese domestic basketball
league will be cancelled as the Chinese Basketball Association
(CBA) is ordered to dedicate itself to the preparation of the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games.
The CBA league had a meeting on Wednesday and decided to cancel
one home-and-away series in the same conference.
Starting from last season, teams from the same conferences
played two home-and-away matches and one set against teams from
other conferences.
Teams in the 2006-2007 season however, will play only one
home-and-away series against each team, resulting in 112 matches to
be cut from the regular season.
The 2006-2007 season will be concluded on April 1 which could
see the final series be played out by seven games, according to the
schedule of the 2005-2006 season.
One more team, Zhejiang Guangsha, is added into the North
Conference of the 15-team league.
The 2007-2008 season will also be cut short as the State General
Administration of Sport ordered the domestic league to give way to
the Olympic preparation.
The CBA league signed multiple million US dollars contracts with
sponsors last year, which will expire after the 2008 Games.
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(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2006)
