Sports Clubs Driven Into Bankruptcy by Pandemic

The repurposing of Iranian sports venues has accelerated since the coronavirus pandemic started and countless coaches and sports club employees have become redundant, as the risk of severe Covid-19 infections and non-contagious diseases has increased.
Iran has 29,000 professional and non-professional sports clubs, 25,782 of which hold permits issued by the Ministry of Sports and Youth. About 150,000 coaches are also employed in these sports clubs.
With at least 10 employees per sports club, nearly 250,000-300,000 personnel have lost their jobs since the outbreak of Covid-19, as the population of regular exercisers has decreased from 3.5 million to one million people and the private sector has become less inclined toward making investment in sports.