Spanish clubs call for UEFA Cup games to be postponed

The four Spanish clubs involved in UEFA Cup matches on Thursday have called for the postponement of the games because of bomb attacks in Madrid which killed at least 130 people.

Valencia president Jaime Orti told Radio Marca that all four clubs had asked European soccer's governing body UEFA to consider postponing their UEFA cup games as a result of the attacks.

"This is a tragic day for Spain," said Orti. "It's a day when we can hardly be thinking about football and we believe that neither the players nor the clubs are ready to play these games."

Orti said that the four clubs had been in contact with both the Spanish government and UEFA to request the games be rescheduled.

Barcelona were due to play Celtic in Glasgow, Real Mallorca were to play at Newcastle United, Villarreal were due to host Italian side AS Roma and Valencia travel to Turkey to face Genclerbirligi.

A UEFA spokesman said they were in contact with the Spanish clubs and would be making an announcement later on Thursday.