Former AC Milan footballer and current technical director Paolo Maldini has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, confirmed the Italian giants on Saturday.
“AC Milan confirms that Paolo Maldini, the club’s Technical Director, became aware of contact with a person who subsequently tested positive for Coronavirus and began to display symptoms of the virus himself,” a statement on the official website of AC Milan said.
It has also been informed that Maldini’s son Daniel, who plays as a forward for the club’s youth team and has trained with the first team on a few occasions, has also tested positive.
“He was administered with a swab test yesterday, the result of which was positive. His son Daniel, a forward in AC Milan’s youth team who had previously been training with the First Team, also tested positive,” the statement said.
However, both Maldini and his son are doing well and were already in home quarantine for the last two weeks and will continue to remain so as per the medical protocols underlined by the medical authorities.
Maldini, who is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, was an integral part of AC Milan’s golden generation. He has won five UEFA Champions League titles with the Serie A club in the 25 seasons that he spent there. He retired from professional football in 2009 at the age of 41.
Earlier on the day, Juventus striker Paulo Dybala and former Manchester United forward Marouane Fellaini were also tested positive for the COVID-19.
Fellaini, who now plies his trade at Chinese Super League team Shandong Luneng, has tested positive in China, while Dybala became the third footballer from Juventus to catch the deadly virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has already killed over 13,000 people and affected more than 3,08,500 people worldwide, has disrupted the sporting calendars with all the major events being either postponed or canceled.
The novel coronavirus, which unleashed its ugly head from Wuhan, China, has now made Italy and the rest of Europe the new epicenter with the death count in Italy already surpassing China’s count of more than 3,250. Italy on Saturday witnessed more than 800 deaths, the highest in the country for a single day since the outbreak of the deadly virus, to take its tally to over 4,800.