First black president of League 1 and Guardiola's mother

The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage around the world. According to April 8, COVID-19 officially claimed the lives of more than 85 thousand people. Among them there were many people who were somehow involved in sports, especially those of advanced age.

On April 8, it became known about the death of the famous Italian runner Donato Sabia. The athlete received the most popularity, having won in 1984 at the European Indoor Championship. Sabia also participated in two Olympics, but failed to win medals. The former athlete was hospitalized a few days ago, but his life could not be saved. Donato only briefly survived his own father, who died at the end of March from the same disease.

And in Spain, the mother of one of the best football coaches in the world, Josep Guardiola, did not become. Dolores Sala Carrio died of coronavirus at the age of 82. Many leading clubs expressed their condolences to the specialist, including Barcelona, ​​with which he took 14 trophies.

Several deaths were recorded in France. On April 2, the former president of Marseille Pap Diouf died. In 2004, he became the first black head of the club in the history of League 1, and later even ran for mayor of Marseille. A day later, the former Lance goalkeeper Arnold Sovinski passed away. He was 89 years old.

But, perhaps, the suicide of the doctor of the club of Reims Club Bernard Gonzalez was the most shocking to the fans. He committed suicide while being isolated due to COVID-19. A positive test was also passed by his wife.

On April 5, it became known about the death of the legend of the NFL (National Football League) Tom Dempsey, who played for various league clubs for ten years (1969-1979). In the past year, the former athlete has experienced serious health problems. He suffered from Alzheimer's and dementia, while COVID-19 became infected in a nursing home.

Ryustu's recovery and reunion of Garay with his family

If elderly people often do not spare the disease, then young healthy athletes, as a rule, successfully resist it. So, on Monday it became known about the recovery of the 31-year-old Olympic swimming champion Cameron van der Burg. The representative of South Africa completely got rid of the coronavirus in three weeks.

The illness of the legendary Turkish football goalkeeper Rechber Rushtu was much worse. On March 29, a terrible diagnosis was confirmed to him, and on the 31st, doctors called his position critical. Fortunately, after only a couple of days, the ex-goalkeeper of Barcelona went on the mend, and on Monday was discharged from the hospital.

Things are going smoothly in Italy, in which more than a dozen football players found the coronavirus. Many of them returned to normal life. This also applies to the legend of Milan, Paolo Maldini, currently the club’s technical director, and his 18-year-old son Daniel. Three Fiorentina players recovered: Patrick Kutrone, Herman Pezzela and Dusan Vlahovic.

The Italian clubs initially had a difficult situation, but the Spanish team “Valencia” can be called the most affected by coronavirus. There, at the end of March, COVID-19, according to media reports, was immediately found in ten players. Among the sick turned out to be a former defender of Zenit Esekiel Garay. On April 1, the Argentine announced the end of self-isolation and was finally able to see his family. And a few days later, the athlete posted a funny video on social networks in which he, along with his wife, dancing, does the cleaning of the house.

Long-awaited cases of recovery have been recorded in the United States. The Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Club reported that two team members who were diagnosed with coronavirus did not have any symptoms of the disease after being quarantined. At the same time, the names of the athletes are not called.

Seven sick in Ottawa

But in other American leagues things are not so encouraging. The United States has already taken first place in the number of cases, and the pandemic could not help but affect the sport. On the 2nd day, it became known about the first infected MLS footballer. He became a player of Philadelphia, whose name is not called. It is only reported that he showed mild symptoms of the disease.

Much worse is the situation in the NHL. In only one Ottawa, seven hockey players passed a positive test for COVID-19 at once, and the first one, perhaps, was the Russian defender Nikita Zaitsev. There are three of them in Colorado Avalanche.

Last week, Andrei Rodionenko, head coach of the country's national gymnastics team, and Sergey Naydin, winner of the Youth Games, passed positive tests. The first was sent home for self-isolation, and the second to the hospital. But a few days later, new tests gave a negative result. Despite this, the athlete remains in the hospital.

The position of the famous figure skating coach Oleg Vasiliev remains unclear. He and his son passed a positive test for COVID-19 and ended up in strict quarantine. Nevertheless, all subsequent tests did not reveal the presence of a virus in the body of a specialist. On Thursday, he will pass the fifth test in a row. Coronavirus was also diagnosed with the coach of the Russian national boxing team Anton Kadushin. March 18, he returned from London, and on the 25th he showed the first symptoms of the disease.