Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz died on Saturday in the wake of being hospitalized with coronavirus.
Sanz, 76, was president at the Bernabeu from 1995-2000, a period in which Real won the Champions League twice.
The former Real Madrid president was taken to an emergency clinic on Tuesday, with paper El Mundo saying he had been experiencing the novel coronavirus. His child said he had a respiratory infection.
“My father has just died,” wrote Sanz’s son Lorenzo Sanz Duran on Twitter.
“He did not deserve this end in this manner. One of the best, most courageous and hard working people I have seen in my life. His family and Real Madrid were his passion.”
Sanz signed players, for example, Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf and Davor Suker during his time in charge of the 33-time Spanish victors,
He lost the 2000 presidential political decision to Florentino Perez, which started Real’s huge spending ‘Galatico’ period.
Sanz’s child Fernando, 46, played for Real Madrid from 1996-1999 preceding going through the last seven years of his career at Malaga.
Sanz had initially chosen to stay home while feeling sick so as not to further overwhelm Spain’s medical service, but ultimately went to the hospital on Tuesday when his fever had lasted for eight days.
After testing positive for COVID-19, an infection gave him kidney failure and he died Saturday night, according to Celeb Gossip.
He is survived by his wife, Mari Luz, and his five children: Lorenzo, Francisco, Fernando — who played for Real Madrid as a defender from 1995 to 1999 and now serves as a La Liga ambassador — María Luz [Malula] and Diana.
More than 24,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Spain, with nearly 1,400 deaths as a result of the respiratory disease.
