The bj-league announced on Friday that three Rizing Fukuoka players have been diagnosed with the new H1N1 strain of influenza. Two of them, Marlyn Bryant and Shuhei Takeno, tested positive at a Fukuoka hospital on Thursday, two days after Kohei Mitomo came down with it. The three won't play in this weekend's games against the host Osaka Evessa.
According to league rules, each team must have at least eight players on its roster for a game, but the league made an exception for Fukuoka, which will suit up seven for this series.