Football opens the doors in the fight against the virus

On a daily basis, gestures of solidarity and a willingness to help in the global virus crisis are being tested.

Spain and Italy are the two European countries hardest hit by the corona virus and hundreds of people die every day in the pandemic.

When the football is stationary, its facilities can be used for other, much more important purposes. This is the reason for both the Italian Football Association and the club leadership in Real Madrid. In Coverciano in Tuscany, Italy's national team usually practice. In the future, the facility will be transformed into a temporary hospital with a focus on care for coronary infections.

- Health is of the utmost importance and must be protected. That is why the union opens the center in Coverciano for Italians in difficulties, says the union's chairman Gabriele Gravina.

All sports in Italy are canceled until April 3.

- We don't play football now. To be able to do that again, we have to win the hardest match of them all, the one against the corona virus, Gravina continues.

In Spain over 4,000 have so far died in the infection and close to 60,000 have been tested positive. The need for care materials is great and donations are pouring in.

From now on, Santiago Bernabéu comes into the picture. The huge arena in the middle of Madrid becomes a storage space for health care and other institutions linked to the fight against the virus.

"All material is given to the Spanish health authorities, which are governed by the government, to be used optimally and efficiently, something that is necessary in the current emergency," Real Madrid writes in a press release.

The club also wants to help convey donations, in the form of money or material, in the fight against the corona virus.