Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro raised the controversy after he announced his desire for the return of football in his country, although it is the epicenter of the emerging Corona virus in South America, and the second country in terms of number of infections globally after the United States.

He said: "Because football players are young athletes, the risk of dying in case of HIV infection will be very low."

Brazilian soccer competitions have been stalled since mid-March, but President Bolsonaro, in comments to Radio "Radio Guayba", played down the players' illness if they caught the virus.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news