United World Wrestling have asked fans to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis ©UWW

United World Wrestling (UWW) has asked the wrestling community to "Stay Strong and Stay at Home" during the COVID-19 crisis to help prevent the spread.

UWW shared the messages of more than 70 wrestlers, including the United States' Jordan Burroughs and Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan, via Instagram, Facebook and YouTube as part of their campaign for containing the virus.

Nenad Lalović, the UWW President, said there had been an "outpouring of support" from the wrestlers and expressed his gratitude to those who have been involved.

He said: "I'm very humbled to know that we have such strong and responsive leadership from our athletes.

UWW President Nenad Lalović has said he is
UWW President Nenad Lalović has said he is "very humbled" by the response by athletes ©Getty Images

"They are the core of who we are and I'm encouraged by their passion to help in this difficult time."

Elsewhere, many wrestlers have been involved in the firing line of the COVID-19 pandemic to help prevent any further infection.

Iranian Olympic champions Rasoul Khadem and Komeil Ghasemi have been helping to deliver medical equipment to highly affected areas of their country, and are joined by several doctors in the sport who are helping to treat victims.

To date, there has been more than 1.44 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 83,000 people.