La Liga Match Abandoned Inside First Half Over Fan Protests

Rayo Vallecano vs. Athletic Club in La Liga was forcibly suspended and abandoned on Saturday after protests from the home supporters directed at club president Raúl Martín Presa.

The match at Estadio de Vallecas in Madrid’s Puente de Vallecas district—south east of downtown—was stopped by referee José María Sánchez Martínez three times, the last of which resulted in it being called off altogether with only half an hour on the game clock.

The first suspension followed what appeared to be a pre-planned protest 13 minutes in, as Rayo fans threw paper planes and marbles onto the field. Captains from both teams were in discussion with the referee and efforts from ground staff were made to clear the playing area of the debris. The clock wasn’t stopped and the play resumed on 21 minutes.

Only a minute later, more planes and balls rained down and the game was stopped again. At that point, the players returned to the locker rooms and it was announced that play would resume in 10 minutes. But it came with a warning that further disruption would result in abandonment. Rayo team captains Óscar Valentín and Isi Palazón were seen approaching and talking to fans, but it had no impact. Once the players re-emerged and the match resumed, it was almost immediately stopped, with referee Sánchez Martínez also consulting the police.

The decision was made not to keep trying, prompting Rayo’s most radical fans to celebrate the abandonment as though a goal had been scored. They had wanted to take a stand against Presa and getting a match called off is the most disruptive action possible. The club’s unofficial anthem, La Vida Pirata—The Pirate Life, was sung, although efforts were also made to congratulate and thank the Athletic Club players, unwittingly caught up in a longstanding, increasingly ugly feud.

La Liga released a statement soon after that confirmed the match was “suspended by the referee's decision following repeated objects being thrown onto the pitch.” That update also made clear that La Liga “strongly condemns this type of behavior, which jeopardizes safety and makes the normal course of the competition impossible.”

It was briefly rumored that the match could be quickly rearranged for Sunday, but that proved not to be the case and the Athletic Club party headed for the airport to return to Bilbao. The match will now have to be scheduled for another time, confirmed in due course.

Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF) could order a “total or partial closure” of Rayo’s stadium for up to three matches, as per the code of conduct.

Longstanding Conflict at Rayo Vallecano

Madrid-born businessman Raúl Martín Presa has been Rayo Vallecano president since 2011, but there have long been issues between the club’s senior hierarchy and its fans.

The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan wrote in 2020: “Internal conflict at the Estadio de Vallecas is nothing new. Strife between Rayo’s left-leaning fanbase and conservative ownership has been constant for decades. It is part of what makes one of Madrid’s biggest clubs such an object of fascination inside and outside the city.”

This was the first home match of the season that Rayo have been able to play at Estadio de Vallecas due to safety concerns. Until this weekend, home fixtures had to be relocated to Leganés on the southwestern outskirts of Madrid. Presa is being blamed for apparent neglect of Rayo facilities, as well as complaints over poor management going back years.

The pitch itself was a concern last season when a La Liga visit from Real Oviedo was called off by the match officials on the grounds of player safety being compromised.

Last weekend, a group of Rayo fans decided on a visual indication of their displeasure, breaking into the stadium and vandalizing the VIP box where the president and his associates sit.

Before the match, Rayo vice-president José María Sardá de Abreu told Movistar+: “Little has changed. A few things have had to be tweaked, but tweaked, not changed. It makes no sense to go through what we’ve been through. Of course we're going to sit in the VIP box. What happened was despicable. This is sport, not politics. We can do things better or worse, but to reach this point of violence ... It’s a top-flight club, with sound finances ... Sure, things aren’t entirely right socially, but there are people who provoke this situation.”

‘Years of Disastrous Management,’ Fans Say

Rayo Vallecano vs. Athletic Club fan protest — Paper plans and other debris rained down on the field | Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images

“What happened today during the match against Athletic Club is an inevitable reflection of the anger, frustration and outrage felt by thousands of supporters after years of disastrous management by Raúl Martín Presa,” read a statement from the Rayo Vallecano Fans' Association published in the wake of the abandonment.

“The fanbase has reached an unsustainable situation after 15 years of neglected facilities, chaotic management, a loss of identity, and continuous contempt for employees and supporters, as well as for the working-class neighborhood of Vallecas and its values. What is happening today is the consequence of a fire that has been allowed to burn for far too long, without anyone trying to put it out.”

The fans’ association insisted the protest was “legitimate and democratic,” as well as “necessary and peaceful.” The statement added: “It is the consequence of three decades of putting the safety and health of 15,000 people at risk every fortnight.”

Supporters described the “loss” of Estadio de Vallecas in July as the “final straw” in this saga, making accusations that fans were “denied the opportunity to claim back money that belongs to them. But there are hundreds of other examples. That is why we will continue protesting.”

Rayo Vallecano needs, they say, “a change of direction.”

“The deterioration, insecurity and discontent are undeniable, day after day, among the fans, in the changing rooms and in the offices, affecting everyone who keeps the organization running. The dictatorial, authoritarian management of Raúl Martín Presa threatens to tear Rayo away from the heart of Vallecas. The Rayo community will not allow it. The institutions should not allow it either. For the history of our club, its workers, stadium, squad and supporters: PRESA, GET OUT NOW!”

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