La Liga giants Real Madrid have confirmed that their world renowned home ground Estadio Santiago Bernabeu will be transformed into a hub for storing medical supplies as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Spain.
The announcement came as Spain recorded 655 deaths from the coronavirus by Thursday, bringing the total to 4,089. The number of confirmed cases stands at 56,188.
"Thanks to the close collaboration between the two institutions, the Santiago Bernabeu will be turned into an adapted space used to store donations of medical supplies in the fight against the pandemic," Real said in a statement.
"All of this material will be given to the Spanish health authorities, who are under the authority of the government, in order that the resources be used optimally and efficiently, which is necessary given the current emergency."
"The club will also allow entities and businesses, especially those linked to sport, the possibly to make donations, either economic or in the form of materials required by the Ministry of Health."
Meanwhile, Real's old rivals Barcelona also announced on Thursday that the club have made all their facilities available to regional health department.
The Spanish defending champions added that in order to lessen the economic burden of COVID-19 crisis, they are taking measures to cut the wages of their players and staff. All professional players at Barca, including club legend and team captain Lionel Messi, as well as non-playing staff, will face a compulsory wage reduction during the outbreak.
"Among the measures adopted, it's worth noting those related to the workplace are motivated by the need to adapt the contractual obligations of the club staff to the new and temporary circumstances that we are experiencing," Barcelona said in a statement.
"It is a reduction of the working day, imposed by the circumstances and the protection measures carried out, and, as a consequence, the proportional reduction of the remuneration provided for in the respective contracts."
The move represents a trend of emergency solutions to the COVID-19 crisis.
On Friday, Australia's football federation said that they had laid off 70 percent of their staff as it struggled to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.
"This has been an extremely difficult decision to make, but necessary to stabilize the organisation so that it can continue to service the game, albeit in a vastly different landscape," Football Federation Australia (FFA) Chief Executive James Johnson said in a statement.
"Industries all over the world have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and football in Australia is no different."
"These developments impact many forms of revenue for FFA, including national registration fees, broadcast fees, sponsorship, ticket sales and government funding, so we have needed to adjust our operations to ensure that we can remain operational," Johnson added.
The number of coronavirus cases in Australia is approaching 3,000 from less than 100 at the start of March, according to health authorities. All Australia's major sports competitions, including A-League, Rugby union, cricket, and basketball had already shut down.