Nippon Professional Baseball and the J. League plan to submit a request to the government to relax limits on attendance at large events, with the spread of COVID-19 appearing to be slowing down within the nation, the two leagues announced Monday.

¡°We have heard the view of our medical panel that the infection rate has settled down nationwide,¡± said NPB Commissioner Atsushi Saito in an online news conference after the 15th meeting of the leagues¡¯ joint task force.

¡°Right now, we are allowing up to 5,000 fans into stadiums, but we would like to think about the next steps,¡± he continued. ¡°We¡¯ve agreed with (J. League) Chairman (Mitsuru) Murai that we will present our request, to relax the limit, to the government as soon as tomorrow.¡±