On Ibiza’s rain-soaked eastern coast, a simple pre-match inspection at Santa Eulària became the clearest possible verdict on Sunday: football could not be played. Before Peña Deportiva were due to meet UCAM Murcia in Spain’s fourth tier, the referee dropped a ball onto a pitch submerged by heavy rainfall — and watched it float away rather than bounce or roll.
Waterlogged ground halts Segunda Federación fixture
The match, scheduled for the seventh round of the Segunda Federación at the Estadio Municipal de Santa Eulària, was affected by flooding caused by severe weather across the island. With water reaching ankle height in areas of the field, the official carried out a basic ball test to determine whether the surface was fit for play.
- The ball failed to bounce on the saturated pitch.
- It also could not travel normally along the surface, instead being carried by the standing water.
- The inspection made clear that the fixture between Peña Deportiva and UCAM Murcia could not go ahead as planned.
- Local authorities had already stopped sporting activities in the area on safety grounds because of the flooding.
Peña Deportiva shares the remarkable inspection
Peña Deportiva published footage of the referee’s test on social media, where the scene quickly attracted attention. The club responded with a light-hearted line: “Referee, so is there going to be a match or not?”
Behind the joke was a serious disruption for the two clubs. The conditions at the municipal ground left no prospect of a normal contest, with the ball test providing an unusually visual demonstration of why the match had to be postponed.
Monday rearrangement depends on the pitch
The game has been moved to Monday at 11:00am Brasília time, with Santa Eulària remaining the planned venue. Its staging, however, remains dependent on the condition of the playing surface after the island’s heavy rain.
