La Liga postpones Valencia, Levante matches after fire in city

Madrid, Feb 24 (IANS) The weekend matches in Spain between Granada and Valencia and Levante and Andorra have been postponed at the request of Valencia and Levante in the wake of the devastating fire in the city of the east coast of Spain that left at least four victims.

The two Valencia clubs asked La Liga for permission to suspend their games after the fire swept through a 14-floor apartment block, which housed around 120 families, reports Xinhua.

The flames spread incredibly rapidly, enveloping the building in less than half an hour and apart from the four confirmed victims, 14 people are still missing.

Both La Liga side Valencia and second-division Levante communicated their desire not to play in the wake of the tragedy, and their rivals accepted, with the two clubs having until February 28th to agree on a new date.

Valencia coach Ruben Baraja and some members of the squad held a press conference on Friday to express their solidarity with everyone affected by the fire.

"Football is of secondary importance today," commented Baraja, while corporate director of Valencia Javier Solis said the club would "put all possible measures at the disposal" of the victims.