Champions League winner Jari Litmanen reveals long Covid hell: What are the symptoms?

Robin Bairner

18 Feb 2026 12:59 GMT
4 min read

Jari Litmanen, Ajax, Long Covid — © IMAGO

Ajax legend Jari Litmanen has revealed that long Covid stopped him playing football for four years as he struggled to even walk due to symptoms from the virus.

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Litmanen, 54, was part of the Ajax side that won the 1994/95 Champions League and also turned out for the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool in a historic career.

But Finland’s greatest player has revealed that long Covid struck him in the early days of the pandemic.

“It started in March 2020 and impacted me for years,” he told The Athletic. “I didn’t have the strength to do anything. I didn’t sleep well and I couldn’t walk properly. The heaviest period was the first three or four weeks. Then, for three or four months, I could only walk for about 10 minutes before being completely tired. I suffered badly.

“Gradually, things improved. I couldn’t play football for four years. The legends game between Liverpool and Ajax in 2024, when I played for both teams, was my first game back. For my mental health, it was so important to be out there playing football again.

“Since then, I’ve played in six or seven legends games. It feels like the start of a new life for me. I can say I am almost fully recovered. It’s not just the playing, it’s seeing your former team-mates. Sometimes I still get tired too quickly, but some people tell me that’s just due to my age.”

Litmanen returns to play alongside his sons

Litmanen’s greatest achievement since this infection was coming out of retirement in October 2025 to play for Tallinna Kalev Juunior in the fourth tier of Estonian football to play alongside Caro and Bruno.

“Suddenly, they had a small group and as I’d been doing some training on the field, their coach said: ‘Is it possible for you to practise with us so we have one player more?’,” he said.

“I thought: ‘Why not?’. I trained, I registered, and then came on for the last 30 minutes of the final game with my boys, who were 17 and 19 at the time. To share the pitch with them like that was amazing. The other young lads didn’t know anything about me, but their parents knew. After the game, they were the ones wanting to have a selfie.”

How common is long Covid?

Litmanen’s story is not an unfamiliar one. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that around 6% of people who have been infected by Covid have suffered medium- to long-term effects from the virus.

The UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported in February 2023 that 1.9 million people (2.9% of the population) had self-reported long Covid symptoms. Of this figure, 20% reported that ability to undertake day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.

There are certain groups of people who are more prone to long Covid, the WHO adds. These are women, older adults, smokers, those who are overweight and those with chronic health problems. Numerous Covid infections also increase the risk.

What are the symptoms of long Covid?

There are more than 200 symptoms of long Covid reported by the WHO, but the most common symptoms are:

Fatigue

Shortness of breath

Joint pain and aching muscles

Problems with memory and concentration (brain fog)

Headaches

Changes to taste

It adds that impaired sleep, depression and anxiety are also common issues.

Is there a cure?

There is currently no cure for long Covid because the condition is still being researched, the NHS states. Instead, the focus for recovery is about best managing symptoms, such as physiotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Symptoms generally improve over time, with many people recovering between four and nine months, but 15% of people can still have symptoms after a year.

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