Xavi donates 1m euros to hospital

MADRID: Former Barcelona and Spain star Xavi Hernandez and his wife have donated one million euros ($1.08 million) to the city’s Hospital Clinic to help the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"Xavi Hernandez and Nuria Cunillera have made a donation of one million euros to the clinic to face up to Covid-19. Thanks a lot for your help and support... All together, we will get there," the hospital tweeted on Saturday. "Nuria and I, we support the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona’s fight against the coronavirus. Thanks to the donations they are receiving, the hospital has acquired equipment for patients and healthcare professionals," Xavi said in a video posted on his Twitter account.

The former World Cup winner and two-time European champion with Spain is currently in charge of Al-Sadd in Qatar and turned down an approach from Barcelona in January after the club sacked Ernesto Valverde. Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, Rafael Nadal and Pau Gasol are among several Spanish sports stars to have donated or led fundraising campaigns to help combat the deadly virus.

Spain, which is under a near-total lockdown, on Saturday recorded a second successive daily fall in coronavirus-related deaths with 809 fatalities. The total number of deaths in the country stands at 11,744, second only to Italy. The number of new Spanish cases also slowed at 7,026, taking the total to 124,736.