A minute's silence before a game was disrupted by a referee wanting to kick off

The two women's teams in Spain wanted the silence for a young deceased fan

A young Rayo Vallecano fan Nayara Dominguez died of cancer at the age of 11

Despite the gesture, the referee blew the whistle to force the players to kick-off

A minute’s silence in a game between two women’s teams in Spain went ahead despite the referee prohibiting it and forcing the players to kick-off.

Rayo Vallecano faced Albacete in Spain’s top women’s division on Sunday and wanted a minute’s silence for young fan Nayara Dominguez who died of cancer aged 11 years old last week.

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As well as being a Rayo fan Nayara was the cousin of Rayo’s Spain Under-19 midfielder Laura Domínguez.

A minute's silence before a match in Spain was disrupted by a referee trying to force kick-off

The two women's teams wanted to honour the memory of a young fan that died of cancer

The match official raises her arms after both teams take their places around the centre-circle

The referee blows the whistle for the match to start before questioning the women

The minute's silence is cut short as the referee runs off to the sideline and play continues

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The players gathered in the centre-circle at Albacete’s Andres Iniesta Stadium but the referee refused the request for a minute’s silence and made Rayo kick-off.

Despite the referee not wanting the minute’s silence Albacete agreed to let Rayo kick-off and the ball was then left still in the area as the two teams retook their places around the centre-circle and stood in silence.

The disgruntled match official blew her whistle again but the players were unmoved. They eventually cut short the tribute, applauded each other and continued with the game.

Rayo went on to lose the match 3-1 at the weekend.