Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Argentine club giants Boca Juniors and River Plate have offered their stadiums to the country’s health services to fight the coronavirus and help treat patients afflicted by it.
The reports come after the Argentine Football Association (AFA) recently decided to suspend the top-flight Superliga earlier this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization.
Superliga champions Boca Juniors offered their Alberto J. Armando Stadium, more commonly known as ‘La Bombonera’, and their arch-rivals River Plate offered their Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Stadium.
Boca Juniors released a statement saying: “By indication of president Jorge Armor Ameal, Boca Juniors leaves its club facilities at the disposition of the ministries of the National and City Health for anything that comes up during this pandemic.”
Local media report River Plate did not issue a statement but made the offer directly to the government through official channels.
Other Superliga clubs to make the same offer to the government are San Lorenzo Almagro, Newell’s Old Boys, Rosario Central and Banfield.
It is not certain that the facilities will be used as it would represent an extraordinary measure and Argentina has not yet been greatly affected by COVID-19.
According to reports, Argentina has 79 confirmed cases of the virus and two deaths as it continues to spread across the globe with 234,035 confirmed cases and 9,861 deaths.
The AFA suspended the Superliga earlier this week after holding a meeting earlier this week with no clear dates on when it could start again.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
