Nearly 200,000 soccer fans crammed into the stadia to watch the Chinese soccer league resumed after a three-month interval due to the outbreak of SARS, local newspaper reported Thursday.

The six matches of the 7th round played on Wednesday attracted an unexpectedly large number of fans to the usually half-empty stadiums, the Sports Weekly said.

The number, according to statistics released by the Chinese Football Association, increased by about 30 percent, compared with 152,500 fans present in all seven games played in the sixth round three months ago.

Defending champions Dalian Shide had to limit the number of spectators to 50,000 plus in their 60,000-capacity stadium when they played hosts to Qingdao, while Shanghai Shenhua saw little room on the stands with over 30,000 fans watching their game.

Officials from several clubs, however, appeared cautiously optimistic about the sudden enthusiasm as they all agreed that it was the long-time suspension that bolstered fans' hunger for the games.

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