“It makes no sense to play this weekend,” said coach Diego Simeone from Madrid on Saturday, a day before the match between his Atlético de Madrid and Las Palmas. The Argentine, like practically the rest of the citizens living in Spain, had been watching with astonishment for two days the press and television because of the DANA that has hit the provinces of Valencia, Cuenca and Albacete, for which there are already 217 dead and this weekend the authorities were working with lists of about 2,000 missing. There is no body to celebrate goals, although one of the purposes of sport as a spectacle is precisely to take the spectator away from the routine and make up with some happiness their day.
“I would suspend everything because it is really a tragedy for the Valencia Community and for the whole of Spain”, said FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick; ‘there is no place for this match’, said Alavés coach Luis García… And so on, with everyone who was asked.
THE AFFECTED AREAS BY THE DANA
LaLiga decided to suspend only the Valencia – Real Madrid and Villarreal – Rayo Vallecano matches of this tragic 12th day of the Spanish league, the two that happened in Valencian territory, where the DANA has wreaked havoc. “We believe that in the terrible situation we are living in Spain, the best message is not to stop, except for the affected areas. The best message is to be on the front line in our workplaces like all workers in other sectors, giving visibility, generating resources and explaining to the world that we all have to be hands on deck to move forward,” Javier Tebas wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday.
A ‘show must go on’ with which a page has been turned to this day full of signs to the Valencian people, where this terrible meteorological effect has suffered the most. Has LaLiga acted well? Is that the right side of the number one competition in Spain? Is the empathy of the minute of silence enough? Beyond the problems of suspending a matchday, the reality is that it has been the weekend with less attention and more reluctance in memory.
