Spanish leagues La Liga, RFEF to observe one-minute silence for COVID-19 victims

New Delhi: The Royal Spanish Football Federation and LaLiga on Sunday (June 7, 2020) announced in a joint statement that upon the resumption of football, a minute of silence will be held before all matches in all professional and non-professional competitions in memory of those who have died from COVID-19.

The announcement comes after the COVID-19 outbreak across the world forced a three-month-long halt on sporting events.

The official statement read, “The RFEF and LaLiga have announced that upon the return of football, in all professional and non-professional competitions, a minute of silence will be held before all matches in memory of those who have died from COVID-19.”

“Both organisations have come to an agreement to pay tribute during the remainder of the season to all those who have lost their lives during the pandemic, as well as their family members.”

The statement also said, “Starting this upcoming Wednesday (June 10) with the continuation of Rayo Vallecano vs Albacete BP, as in all LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank matches that follow including the LaLiga SmartBank and Segunda B promotion play-offs, the world of football will remember those who have sadly passed away with 60 seconds of mourning before kick-off.”

Official statement#LaLiga and the RFEF agree to hold a minute of silence before each match. — LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) June 7, 2020

Earlier on June 4, LaLiga started a new campaign that captured the excitement being felt by the league’s global fanbase on the resumption of the football season that was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak since March 9 when Real Madrid played Betis.

The campaign, titled #LaLigaBouncesBack, launched with a video featuring an array of global sports stars, including LaLiga Santander players Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak, who are seen passing LaLiga’s official match ball, designed by PUMA. 

The ball is passed through nine different countries before arriving back in Spain, ready for competition to resume on June 11.

Marc Bartra of Real Betis and Suso of Sevilla FC, who will face each other in El Gran Derbi to mark the return of LaLiga competition, also appeared in the video.

In line with the #BackToWin campaign, launched by LaLiga and Movistar, the video conveys the message that restarting the competition is not only important for LaLiga and its clubs, but also for the millions of fans who follow the competition worldwide.

Although Spain has been reporting very few coronavirus confirmed cases from the past few weeks, it has been the fourth worst-hit country in the world.

Spain by Sunday (June 7) evening has reported over 2.88 lakh positive infections with 27,135 COVID-19 fatalities, according to the Worldometers website.