VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — The Copa del Rey matches involving Valencia and Levante have been postponed following floods that have killed at least 95 people and caused havoc in southern Spain.
Other sporting events were also affected by Tuesday's flash floods that swept away cars, turned village streets into rivers and disrupted rail lines and highways in the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent memory.
The Spanish league planned to postpone all weekend matches in the Valencia region, including those of Valencia against Real Madrid and Villarreal against Rayo Vallecano. Three second-division games also were expected to be postponed.
Clubs, soccer stars and other athletes — including Vinícius Júnior, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Diego Simeone and Thibaut Courtois — posted messages of support on social media.
“Real Madrid is deeply saddened and expresses its solidarity with all the people affected by this catastrophe, to whom it conveys all its full support and sympathy,” the club said.
Both Madrid and Barcelona held a moment of silence before their training sessions on Wednesday.
Spanish tennis players Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz both joined in the messages of support, as did Formula One driver Carlos Sainz.
“Today was a sad day with the suffering and pain caused by the (floods),” Nadal said on X. “Everyone's hearts are hurting seeing those images.”
Valencia was set to play Parla Escuela in the first round of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, while Levante was scheduled to visit Pontevedra.
Other midweek Copa games in the southern region were canceled as well.
The season-ending MotoGP race in Valencia in two weeks was also in doubt after reports of heavy damage caused by the floods at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo.
Some basketball games also had to be rescheduled as travel was affected throughout Spain.
Rainstorms that started Tuesday and continued Wednesday caused flooding across southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia. Muddy torrents tumbled vehicles down streets at high speeds while debris and household items swirled in the water. Police and rescue services used helicopters to lift people from their homes and rubber boats to reach drivers stranded atop cars.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press
