Spanish Tennis ace Rafael Nadal, along with his country’s NBA star Pau Gasol, has launched a fundraising campaign to help their nation fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ha llegado la hora de que el deporte español consigamos #nuestramejorvictoria.
Colabora en el proyecto #CruzRojaResponde con tu aportación a ES44 0049 0001 5321 1002 2225. @paugasol y yo la tenemos en camino. ¿Te unes?
👉 https://t.co/FkUPrvfhpr#vamos 👆🏻🎾 🏀 🙏 pic.twitter.com/pWYIfPfj0U
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) March 26, 2020
The novel coronavirus has wreaked havoc in Spain where more than 5,000 people have died, making it the second most-affected country after Italy. Spain on Saturday witnessed over 750 fatalities, highest on a single day since the first COVID-19 case was reported there.
The duo of Nadal and Gasol has targeted to raise 11 million euros ($12.3 million) and has made an appeal to their fans and fellow sportspersons to come forward and donate to their cause.
“The Spanish people have never let us athletes down. We are what we are because of them. We cannot let them down now,” 19-time Grand Slam winner Nadal was seen saying in a video on his social media platforms.
Ha llegado la hora de que entre todos consigamos #nuestramejorvictoria💪🏼
Colabora en el proyecto #CruzRojaResponde enviando tu aportación a ES44 0049 0001 5321 1002 2225.Mi donación y la de @RafaelNadal ya están en camino. ¿Te unes?
👉🏼 https://t.co/Tz5eDBIu3x pic.twitter.com/eAqhfGyJ2y
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) March 26, 2020
“Spanish athletes have always tried to make our nation proud, today we want to go beyond that. We want to raise 11 million euros and help 1.34 million people, those hardest hit by coronavirus,” the 39-year-old double NBA champion Gasol said.
Among the athletes who have contributed to Nadal and Gasol’s cause are former Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder David Silva, Tennis player Garbine Muruguza, former Tennis world number one Carlos Moya, Moto GP racer Marc Marquez, Tennis player Roberto BautisoAgut and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso.