Five matches of the South Korean professional baseball league scheduled for Tuesday will be canceled in accordance with the nationwide vaccination program for Olympic athletes.

The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) said Friday that out of 154 players on the preliminary squad for the Tokyo Olympics, 116 professional athletes playing in South Korea, including former Major League All-Star outfielder Choo Shin-soo of SSG Landers, will be inoculated Monday.

The number accounts for about 40 percent of the 10-club KBO's registered players.

The KBO said that it will have a day off Tuesday, the day after the vaccination, when five regular season matches were scheduled, to guarantee enough rest for the vaccinated players who may complain of symptoms of side effects.

The canceled games will be rescheduled in October, it added. The KBO will announce the 24-man final roster for the Tokyo Summer Olympics in June.

On Thursday, South Korea started coronavirus vaccinations for nearly 1,000 athletes, coaches and support personnel scheduled to participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

The Olympics, postponed by a year from 2020 due to effects of the pandemic, will run from July 23 to Aug. 8 this year. (Yonhap)