All Serie A matches this weekend will start with a minute’s silence in honour of those who sadly passed away as a result of the flooding in the Marche region.
At least 10 people have tragically passed away over the last few days after an intense storm caused one of the worst flash floods in Marche’s history. More than 420mm of rain struck the region in less than two hours, a third of the amount usually seen in a year, causing injury to over 50 and the deaths of at least 10. Four people are still missing.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina confirmed Serie A’s decision to hold the minute’s silence, underlining the sadness present across the world of football.
“We are shaken and deeply saddened by what has happened, Italian football huddles around the people of Le Marche and the families of the victims.
“We’re a community in joy and pain, that is why the minute’s silence that we will observe on all the pitches over the weekend testifies to our closeness and respect towards those who are suffering from the calamity that has struck the Marche Region in the last few hours.”
Some observers suggested that the flood was as destructive as an earthquake, causing devastation across the region of Marche.
Paola Pino d’Astore, an expert at the Italian Society of Environmental Geology, detailed how the floods are incredibly hard to predict and are the result of climate change. “It is an irreversible phenomenon, a taste of what our future will be,” she said.