Tehran, Sporting activities in Iran will remain further suspended till May 20 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic which has claimed more than 4,000 lives in the country.

According to official IRNA news agency, the announcement was made on Tuesday by Iran's National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus.

After the first cases of illness were reported in mid-February, Iran Sports Medicine Federation and Ministry of Sport and Youth had already called off all sports activities until April 18.

Meanwhile, Fereshteh Karimi, the Iranian national women's futsal player, has joined the AFC's BreakTheChain campaign to help fight novel coronavirus pandemic.

"It is the first time that the people of the entire world have faced such a challenge," she said in a video.

Karimi expressed the hope that the virus will sooner be defeated so that the people could live in peace again. "The virus has made everyone anxious," she added.

Among the latest athletes that joined the campaign are South Korea's Lee Chung-yong and Bahrain's Mahdi Al Humaidan.

The campaign seeks to publicise the health protocols of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Around 75,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported so far in Iran.