TEHRAN – Mohsen Bavi, a player of the Shariati Kut-e Abdullah Karun football team in Ahvaz, died due to coronavirus on Tuesday.

He had a history of wearing the shirt of Esteghlal Ahvaz team, IRNA reported.

Bavi is the first Iranian football player to die due to COVID-19.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said that the total number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus has reached 99,970 of whom 6,340 have lost their lives.

The Iranian sports competitions have been canceled from March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 outbreak.  

Worldwide, the virus has killed over 258,873 people and infected more than 3,700,000 million.