Prominent football star dies of COVID-19 at 45

Former Iran and Persepolis football team midfielder Mehrdad Minavand passed away aged 45. Minavand died Wednesday night after a battle with COVID-19. He had been hospitalized at the Laleh Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) in Tehran last week. Minavand started his career at Tehran based football club Pas in 1994 but joined Persepolis a year later.