Rayo Vallecano hits out at ultras after Athletic match suspended: "This attack was meticulously prepared"

Rayo Vallecano's return to their home stadium this season did not last a quarter of an hour. The match against Athletic Club was halted in the 13th minute after paper planes and plastic balls were thrown from the stand behind the goal in protest against president Martín Presa and the board. Hours later, the club published a statement of unusual force calling the events an attack on the club, the players and the majority of supporters.

• The referee stopped the game in the 13th minute after repeated warnings over the public address system and video scoreboard.
• The club says the protest was planned and carried out by an organised group with the sole aim of forcing the match to be abandoned.
• Rayo denounces a failed attempt to storm the directors' box the previous week and prior warnings given to police and LaLiga.
• The club calls on institutions to end any complicity with ultra groups and announces internal action against those responsible.
• It is the third match abandoned at Vallecas in fifteen years, following previous incidents in 2012 and 2019.

Rayo denounces a coordinated effort to force the match to be abandoned

The club's statement leaves no room for interpretation. Rayo insists that what happened was not spontaneous but a premeditated and planned action by the leaders of an organised group. The aim, according to the text, was to stop the game until it was definitively suspended. That finally happened after the National Police security coordinator told the referee that the necessary safety conditions could not be guaranteed for play to continue.

This has been an attack on the safety of the players, the match officials on the pitch, on their freedom to do their job and on the majority of fans who came to the stadium this afternoon simply wanting to watch a football match.

Previous measures and warnings to the authorities

Rayo Vallecano maintains that it took every precaution within its reach to prevent the events. The club recalls that just a week earlier there was a failed attempt to storm the directors' box by more than fifty alleged members of the Bukaneros ultra group, most of them hooded and with their faces covered. That episode, reported on 3 October, led the club to warn the Government Delegation, the National Police, the Municipal Police and LaLiga's Security Department about the risk of a highly hostile atmosphere.

The club also says it reinforced private security at the stadium, increasing the number of staff for the match. During the game, Rayo repeatedly issued messages over the public address system and on the video scoreboard, urging the throwing to stop and warning that the match could be suspended. The club also mobilised volunteers and ball boys to pick up the objects from the pitch. However, every time the area was cleared, those behind the goal threw more objects onto the field. This happened up to three times.

Captains and club members pleaded with the stand behind the goal

Rayo Vallecano stresses that even the captains and other club representatives went towards the stand to beg those responsible to stop. The pleas had no effect. According to the club, the group's only intention was to stop the match, and every effort made to restart it was met with fresh throwing. The final decision came from the National Police security coordinator, who informed the referee that there were no guarantees to continue.

Third match abandoned at Vallecas in fifteen years

The statement notes that this is the third match interrupted at Vallecas in the last fifteen years due to incidents of this kind. The precedents were Rayo Vallecano–Real Madrid in September 2012 and Rayo Vallecano–Albacete in 2019. On both occasions, according to the club, the incidents followed messages of extortion and intolerance from the same groups. The club also points to the pressure and threats suffered this season by fans who went to Butarque, where they had to get past an informational picket to obtain tickets, and the sharing of photographs on social media to single out those who did not support the protests.

Rayo calls on institutions to end complicity with ultra groups

The Madrid club asks public institutions to put an end to any form of complicity with ultra groups or affiliated organisations in which they hide. Rayo also demands a halt to any support, financing or promotion of these collectives, whose actions it considers contrary to the values of sport. The club calls for firmness from those in positions of public responsibility and warns that any gesture which serves to protect or legitimise intimidation and violence is unacceptable.

The club links the incidents to the return to Vallecas Stadium, a comeback that ends the situation caused by the suspension of the stadium concession. Rayo argues that this circumstance benefited organised groups as a tool of pressure against the president, whom they have been trying to wear down for more than fifteen years. In that period, the club defends its economic and sporting record: it turned around a technically bankrupt entity with more than one hundred million euros of debt, increased squad spending by more than 300% and enjoyed the most successful era in its 102-year history, with twelve seasons in the top flight, a Copa del Rey semi-final and a European runners-up finish.

Club to review footage and apply internal rules

Rayo Vallecano announces that it will request video images from the relevant authorities to identify everyone in the stand who threw objects onto the pitch. The aim is to apply the club's internal regulations to those responsible. The club concludes that the players, the majority of fans, the match officials and the Athletic Club supporters who travelled to Vallecas are all victims of an attack on their rights and freedoms by an organised group of intolerant individuals.