Chinese Basketball Association postponed until at least July

The Chinese Basketball Association won't return from the coronavirus pandemic anytime soon. 

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jonathan Givony confirmed the CBA intends to keep its season suspended until at least July. The league halted play on Jan. 24 and originally was scheduled to resume on April 15. 

Large gatherings for sporting events are currently banned in China because of the virus outbreak. It remains unknown when players currently not in the country will be permitted to re-enter and rejoin their clubs. 

In March, Givony reported that some CBA players received a memo that threatened "lifetime bans" for players who did not return to their teams by the requested date of March 15. 

On Tuesday, Olimpia Milano head coach Ettore Messina told Italian channel Rai Sport that he believes the current EuroLeague basketball season won't resume. 

"Thinking about 18 European teams flying from one country to another or players coming back from USA seems very unlikely," he said. 

While the bulk of professional and amateur competitions have been shut down indefinitely because of the pandemic, Tariq Panja of the New York Times reported last week the German Bundesliga could return in early May. ESPN's Mark Ogden recently reported the Barclays Premier League and other English competitions are eyeing June 6 as their return date. 

Games in Germany and England will likely be played behind closed doors through the spring and summer months. 

On March 31, ESPN's Brian Windhorst tweeted that "China's attempt to restart sports are being watched closely by leagues across the world."