On the morning after the worst flood in Spain’s history killed 223 people and devastated the Valencia region, Villarreal flew back into the city from a Copa del Rey tie in Mallorca, the scale of the devastation laid out below them so great that Ayoze Pérez insists all football should have been postponed immediately. Instead, it took until the following afternoon for confirmation that their match against Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid’s visit to Mestalla would not be played while the rest of the week’s first division’s fixtures went ahead, a decision that was universally criticised and that the former Leicester striker considers inconceivable.
Pérez believes that while players might have lacked the collective voice or power to refuse to play, they should not even have needed one. “We shouldn’t have reached the point that coaches and players had to come out and give their opinion, because ultimately it’s so clear,” the Villarreal forward said. “When the circumstances are so, so hard, we should not have to reach a conclusion that’s obvious. We’re talking about a catastrophe. The decision should have been taken in minutes; what we all thought [that we should not play] was the most normal thing in the world. We had to be at Valencia’s side. Football comes second, or third. What mattered was all those people affected.”
