Valencia Storm: Real Madrid Donate 1 Million Euros, Los Chess Players Help Volunteers

The Valencia CF players also volunteered at the logistics center, Mestalla Stadium (Instagram/@valenciacf).

JAKARTA - The natural disaster of Hurricane Dana which caused flash floods in Valencia Province, Spain, on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, paralyzed a number of facilities.

In addition, it was reported that more than 150 people had died as of Friday, November 1, 2024, and dozens of people were still missing.

A number of sports agendas in Valencia were paralyzed, including the Los Chess match (the title of La Liga club, Valencia CF) which had to be postponed and the final MotoGP 2024 series and the Formula E trial at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit which was threatened with cancellation.

Currently, everyone is working hand in hand to help the affected victims, including the Valencia CF club.

Los Ches transformed their cage, Mestalla Stadium, as a food distribution center and other logistics.

The club wants to assist the local government in handling victims. Valencia CF is also assisted by a non-governmental organization, the Valencia Food Bank (Banco de Alimentos de Valencia).

In fact, a similar organization from the United States, World Central Kitchen (WCK), has also gone directly to Mestalla.

Prior to the Valencia CF training session on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, local time, the squad held a moment of silence at their training center to honor the victims. Some team players were not present due to transportation difficulties due to the storm.

"Mestalla will serve the city to deal with the state of emergency caused by (floods)," the club said in an official statement on social media.

After the exercise until today, Friday, November 1, 2024, the Los Chess players joined volunteers at Mestalla.

The addition of volunteers from the Valencia CF players allowed the logistics post at Mestalla to serve longer times.

"Staff and @valenciacf players support assistance for those affected by Hurricane Dana at Mestalla."

"This Friday the collection of donations will continue at Camp de Mestalla. All that is needed is food, baby food, and cleaning products."

"Your solidarity is extraordinary. From now on we are open without interruption on Mestalla until 19.30," the club said in a statement on Instagram.

Valencia CF is not alone in dealing with the impact of these natural disasters. La Liga clubs are also committed to raising funds for the Red Cross to help the victims.

In addition, clubs in Spain also published the solidarity campaign during this weekend's broadcast of matches and through their social media accounts.

"Spanish professional football also expresses its condolences and expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and those who are missing," La Liga said in a statement on Thursday, October 31, 2024.

The club that recently donated is Real Madrid. Los Blancos announced that they would also cooperate with the Red Cross and donate 1 million euros.

"The Real Madrid and Red Cross have launched a fundraising campaign to support those affected by the storm."

"The club has decided to support this campaign with a donation of 1 million euros to help many families who are in critical situations and need all our help and solidarity," said Real Madrid's official statement on Friday, November 1, 2024.

Real Madrid is one of the teams affected by the postponement of the match. In fact, he will face Valencia CF at Mestalla this weekend.

However, the Spanish Football Federation has determined the postponement of a number of matches involving teams in Valencia Province, both La Liga and Copa del Rey.

Apart from the match against Valencia, at the level of the women's league (League F), Real Madrid also cannot play the match against Levante.

In addition, several parties to the Segunda Division (second level) were also postponed.

The Spanish government announced three days of mourning. The death toll is expected to rise as a number of people are still missing. Search efforts continue.

The impact of flooding from Tuesday night to early Wednesday looked very similar to the damage left by the storm or tsunami. The cars piled up next to the fallen trees and power lines.

La Liga announced that a one-minute moment of silence will be held before all matches that will be played this weekend to show respect for the victims of the devastating flash floods.