Brazil's top football clubs are handing over their stadiums to allow health authorities to turn them into field hospitals and clinics to fight the coronavirus pandemic. With football in the country suspended until further notice, more than half the clubs in Brazil's Serie A have given up their stadiums as authorities in densely populated Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro seek to expand hospital capacity to deal with the crisis.

Current South American champions Flamengo are giving control of their famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro to health authorities, said club president Rodolfo Landim. "In this grim moment, I wanted to invite our great Red and Black nation to renew hope and work for better days. Let us take care of our elders, help those who need it most," Landim wrote in a message to supporters. Authorities in Sao Paulo -- Brazil's biggest city -- said they would install 200 beds in a field hospital at the Pacaembu municipal stadium to relieve pressure on the city's hospitals, while two of the city's big clubs were also lending a hand.