The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is due to begin tomorrow (April 11), with the Rakuten Monkeys taking on the Chinatrust Brothers.

Games are limited to just 500 people being the stadium - including players, umpires, coaches and officials - meaning fans cannot attend.

The average attendance at CPBL matches last season was more than 5,800.

For the Monkeys, their novel solution to feel supported is to put mannequins dressed up in team gear in the stands.

While that move may raise some eyebrows, there will be plenty of eyes on the CPBL in the coming days as major leagues across the world contemplate how and when they can return to action.

The CPBL will be the first baseball league to start its season, with the South Korean league targeting a return in early May.

One of the major reasons for the league being able to start is the relative success Taiwan has had in containing the spread of coronavirus - something which means this model may not be replicable in other countries for some time.

There have been only 382 COVID-19 cases reported in Taiwan thus far, along with 6 deaths, despite the country's population being more than 23 million.

Controversially, Taiwan is not in the World Health Organization because China objects to its membership - a fact could prevent the country from sharing what it knows about stopping the spread of the virus with other nations and vice-versa.

The CPBL has also changed the schedule to ensure teams travel less throughout the season, while it has said it will follow the advice of health experts and implement strict preventative measures at stadiums, hotels and team facilities.

When the season does begin, the Monkeys will be defending the title.

They won the five-team league last season before being bought by Japanese firm Rakuten.