Manchester City offer stadium to NHS for medical training

Etihad Stadium of Premier League football club, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, will be used to train doctors, nurses as part of City’s efforts to help combat novel coronavirus pandemic in United Kingdom.

LONDON – Defending Premier League champions Manchester City have temporarily handed over their Etihad Stadium to the National Health Service (NHS) to help combat the novel coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom.

The stadium will be used to train doctors and nurses during the crisis as a total of 1,228 people have died in the United Kingdom from coronavirus as of 1700 GMT on Saturday.

Manchester City, which is owned by Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, have no games until at least the end of April due to the suspension of the Premier Leaguer.

The City have offered the stadium's executive boxes and conference rooms to NHS medical staff for training purposes, according to media reports.

In 2017, the Premier League champions offered their stadium to victims of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Manchester City have joined forces with rivals Manchester United to raise money in a bid to help those affected by the deadly disease.

The two football clubs’ action has helped raise £100,000 which will feed 400,000 children across Manchester.

City players Raheem Sterling and Steph Houghton have taken part in the NHS’s #StayHomeSaveLives campaign, urging the public to stay at home during the pandemic to slow the spread of the COVID-19.

Sterling urged Brits in a video on Twitter to stay at home to help the NHS save lives and only leave their houses to buy food and medicine or exercise.

“Whilst so many of us love watching and playing football and sport in general, it’s not important at the moment, everybody is adapting to new situations and although it’s different and difficult, we are seeing the best in people, communities supporting one another by dropping off shopping, picking up prescriptions and people reaching out through apps to talk and support each other,” said Houghton.

"Thursday’s show of support for the NHS shows how much we appreciate them and how we are all coming together to get through this as quickly and as safely as we can, football will return and we will appreciate it a little more for the joy it brings but for now Stay at Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives,” she added.