The Chinese team Wuhan FC arrived in Spain at the end of January, and it was not in the minds of the players that they would not be able to return to their country after the unexpected outbreak of the Coronavirus and a state of suspicion and fear.

The players were present in the Chinese city of Guang Zhou, about 900 km north of Wuhan, from which the Coruna epidemic originated, yet upon their arrival at the Spanish city of Malaga, they found doctors waiting for them, and they were subjected to rigorous medical examinations until the Spanish Ministry of Health assured that they did not carry the virus. Then, a Spanish public opinion announcement was issued to allay the concerns of the Chinese delegation.

In these difficult times the world is currently living in, information like this may seem simple and small, and football sport may seem insignificant, as Wuhan City, which has an area five times London, has become a ghost town, as public transportation has been stopped and roads and bridges closed Guards and surveillance equipment were installed at all doors and entrances, and the city's 11 million residents were ordered to stay in their homes, avoiding any contact with neighbors and friends.

The Chinese team's players suffered while in Spain due to a lack of information, as they were very worried about their families, especially as some of them had young children stuck inside the city, and one of them died his grandmother due to the virus.

"This incident brought us closer to the problem, as the player's grandmother's death was a painful moment for all members of the delegation, but like all crises in life we ​​must overcome this tragedy, especially since we cannot return to Wuhan," said Jose Gonzalez, coach of the Wuhan team.

"The players have been forced to stay out of their homes for more than two months, and they have not been able to celebrate Chinese New Year holidays with their families, they just talk to them on the phone every day, and they are pained to see them trapped in their homes and unable to live normally," Gonzales said.

Members of the Chinese team received an invitation to attend the El Clasico match between the Real Madrid and Barcelona teams two weeks ago, and they appeared before the camera lenses and tried to smile and courage, and expressed their hope that Wuhan emerged from this crisis as a heroic city that triumphed over this virus, which infected more than 80 thousand in China up to now.


The Chinese team players take part in the exercises earnestly in order to distract themselves and get out of the sad atmosphere, so they insisted on maintaining the original training program.

"We need to enjoy football, and frankly, I try to talk about the virus as little as possible, because everyone talks about it all the time in their rooms and with their families, so I make sure that the training time is fun to create a smile on their faces," said team captain Yao Hanlin.

"I learn a lot every day from my fellow players about how they behave and the way they deal with this crisis. This makes you think about the limits of human capabilities and how willing to act professionally."

So far, the members of the Chinese team are not aware of when they will return to their homes, but some estimates indicate that they may be able to do so by mid-April.

All the Chinese Premier League teams are now inside the country except for the Wuhan team, which many in Europe feel a great sympathy for, but members of the mission have suffered on some occasions from feelings of racism and xenophobia, as the Russian FK Krasnodar team and the Europa Point team from Gibraltar withdrew from The friendly games that were programmed against the Wuhan team.