Anil Murthy: "I hope that the return of football creates happiness amongst the people"

Ahead of the LaLiga derby on Friday night, the presidents of the region's three top flight clubs convened with the head of the Generalitat Valenciana (regional government), Ximo Puig, for a brief chat and a show of solidarity to the community.

Valencia CF's Anil Murthy, Levante UD's Quico Catalan and Villarreal CF's Fernando Roig were the trio invited to meet with the man in charge of an area of Spain attempting to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr. Puig thanked the club presidents for their efforts in bringing back a sport that is important to the local economy, as well as the charitable acts undertaken during the pandemic.

"First of all, I want to thank the respective presidents of the three Valencian clubs that we have in the Primera División; clubs who are forming part of this huge operation for the recovery of normality. Football is more than a sport, as we all know. From today it is restarting. I want to thank them for their willingness to collectively participate in the recovery of the Valencia region," said Mr. Puig, adding that all three clubs will "work together to see how to help the region in this time of recovery, with the tourism aspect and the contribution that the clubs can make to the image of Valencia."

Mr. Murthy commented that "Football is being played again. It's an important derby. We are rivals, but in the end Levante UD and Valencia CF have great fanbases who want to see football. They want that joy again, and that rivalry between us. I hope that the return of football creates happiness amongst the people, because football isn't just useful for social cohesion -it will reactivate many things in people's lives and their return to normality."

Mr. Catalán said that “My message is of satisfaction and gratitude for all the work that has been done by many anonymous people, to allow us to get here at this moment. Now we have to experience this process from home, and we have to respect that. I hope that everybody achieves their objectives, and that this region continues to have three teams at the elite level."