AC Milan have made an official donation of €250,000 to help local emergency services in their continued battle against the coronavirus outbreak.
Italy and in particular northern regions such as Lombardy – where Milan is the capital – continue to struggle to get the outbreak under control which has led to the official announcement that Serie A will be suspended until April 3 at least.
As per a report on the BBC, the number of people to have died from the coronavirus in Italy has shot up by 133 in a day to 366, officials say. The total number of infections leapt 25% to 7,375 from 5,883, according to the Civil Protection agency.
Milan have announced that, in light of the outbreak, they have made a donation to try and help the relief efforts. A statement on the club’s official website reads as follows…
‘AC Milan and Fondazione Milan have today jointly agreed to donate €250,000 to the response efforts of AREU (Azienda Regionale Emergenza Urgenza), the emergency response arm of the Lombardy region’s government. The donation will support AREU’s efforts to provide urgent care to those hospitalised by the virus.
‘In advance of the club’s recent match against Genoa, played ‘behind closed doors’ in light of government guidelines put in place to contain the virus, AC Milan provided support to its fans by guaranteeing that the club would provide refunds to all fans that purchased tickets for the match, including pro-rata refunds to its season ticket holders. Following an influx of requests from supporters via social media, the club is working to provide a method via which fans will be able to donate their refunds in support of those affected by Covid-19.’
Ivan Gazidis, AC Milan’s CEO, said: “There are things in life more important than football. At a time when all of us need to take care of the most vulnerable amongst us, we must all act with the utmost responsibility and listen to the advice of the relevant authorities.
“On behalf of the club, I am proud to support the incredible efforts of our region’s emergency response teams with this donation. The health and safety of our loved ones is our highest priority. We understand that our fans are going through an extremely difficult time.
“We are all worried about those nearest and dearest to us and about the implications for the future. Milan is more than a football club. It is a community of people who care for each other and we also represent the great city of Milano around the world. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Milanisti.
“We have already announced that we will reimburse all those who have shown their love for the club by issuing refunds to any games cancelled or postponed and we will be taking further steps to support our fans through these difficult times as they have always supported us.”