Barcelona great Lionel Messi has pledged a €1m donation to help fight coronavirus, it has been reported.
Messi, who has spent his entire remarkable career with FC Barcelona, will split his donation between Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and another medical centre in his native Argentina, it is reported.
“Leo Messi made a donation to the clinic to fight the coronavirus,” Hospital Clinic wrote on Twitter. “Thank you very much, Leo, for your commitment and your support."
The total sum of Messi's donation was not made clear in the tweet, though sources have said that it is around one million euros - a sum that would match a separate donation made by the Argentine's former manager, Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola, who managed Lionel Messi at Barcelona in a highly successful period and also played for the club, made his donation to a campaign initiative launched by the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation and Medical College of Barcelona.
“Pep Guardiola has made a donation of one million euros to the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation for the acquisition and supply of health equipment to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic,” a statement from the college says.
Per the Independent, the campaign aims to accrue medical materials and monetary contributions for the purchase of medical equipment that is currently required in health centres in Catalonia.
A man filmed himself licking supermarket products amid the coronavirus outbreak:Lionel Messi has also taken part in a number of campaigns in the last week, urging people to stay at home and wash their hands to prevent the virus from spreading.
Meanwhile, in Coventry, England, a local police force revealed on Twitter that they had been forced to disperse a gathering of 20+ people who had congregated to have a BBQ.
Per John Hopkins University, at the time of writing there were 425,493 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world, with 18,963 deaths and 109,191 recoveries.
