Why was the Levante v Bilbao match cancelled while Barcelona's clash with Racing was played despite the rain warning? | Goal.com
Two matches, two different outcomes. La Liga followers were left arguing after Levante v Athletic Bilbao fell foul of bad weather on Wednesday, while Barcelona v Racing Santander went ahead despite official warnings about the very same conditions.
The newspaper "Marca" explained that clubs cannot decide to suspend matches over weather conditions. That power rests with the competent authorities, in this case the regional governments of Valencia and Catalonia, who issue the orders banning outdoor activities regardless of weather warnings.
An orange alert covering Valencia throughout the day did not, then, mean the match had to be called off. The Valencia government never issued an explicit ban on outdoor activities.
The referee decides once he reaches the stadium, without needing prior permission from the authorities. He holds the power to stop a match based on what he sees on the ground.
Andalusian referee Alejandro Quintero chose to suspend Levante v Athletic Bilbao after heavy rain fell during the warm-ups. The match could not start because the tunnel to the dressing rooms had flooded.
Bright sunshine and a few clouds greeted the ground two and a half hours before kick-off. Even so, an orange alert hung over the fixture.
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Catalonia's government, though, issued no ban. The rain in the minutes before the warm-up was moderate to normal, then it came down hard.
Juan Ramón Cabello, deputy director of Civil Protection in the Catalonia government, addressed the matter after the match on the El Larguero programme. He said: "We sent the alert at around 9:30pm (Spanish time), when the Barcelona v Racing match was about to start. It is true that we sent the alert warning of the possibility of heavy rain, but it was local rain, which might fall in one part of the city and not another, so we felt that, with great caution in travel, the match could be held."
Speaking on "Cadena SER" radio, Cabello added: "We did not see a need to suspend the match. In fact, we were very precise in delivering the message, stressing that it was not a restriction, but rather safety recommendations for people. It must be taken into account that these phenomena are very local, and may affect some areas and not others. We continuously monitored the development of the rainfall in coordination with the meteorological service, and we made this recommendation without committing to banning outdoor activities in that area."
"Had the suspension been necessary, based on the forecasts of the meteorological service or observations or any incident, we would have done it," he continued.
Note the difference. The alert Cabello refers to was a red alert, not the orange one issued in Valencia. The match still went ahead because the authorities saw no need to stop it, and because the storm never developed as it had in Valencia.
Referee Munuera Montero also decided the conditions did not warrant a halt.
Neither region issued a decision banning outdoor sports, and the clubs and La Liga are bound by that verdict. That held true in Valencia and in Barcelona alike.
What decided things instead was the development of the storm and the referee's call. One suspended Levante v Athletic Bilbao. The other let Barcelona v Racing go ahead.
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