Tokyo, Mar 13: The devastating tsunami that hit the north-eastern coast of Japan has left the country's sports calendar in utter disarray with stadiums damaged, football matches and other sporting events being canceled.

Although the stadiums aren't damaged beyond repair, but still it would take long before they are finally ready to host events.

Nearly 20 weekend matches in the country's two top divisions were canceled while a couple of Asian Champions League matches scheduled for Mar 15 and Mar 16 have been postponed. Emperor's Cup title holder Kashima Antlers have been badly hit with its stadium and training facilities being badly damaged.

Kozo Tashima, General Secretary of the Japanese Football Association has been quoted by the Reuters as saying, "All of Japan is in a state of crisis...We need to think about the week ahead for the time being. "We haven't discussed (the Japan games) yet."

The north-eastern coastal areas of Japan was on Mar 11 hit by a fierce Tsunami triggered by a preceding earthquake that measured 8.9 on the Richter scale. Since then the country has had a few more after-shock and a explosion in one of the nuclear power plants whose radiation has endangered the lives of thousands.

OneIndia News