Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Club abandoned after paper plane protest

Rayo Vallecano's first home game of the LaLiga season was abandoned on Saturday after supporters threw paper planes and small rubber balls onto the pitch at Estadio de Vallecas. The protest against president Raúl Martín Presa forced the referee to stop the match while it remained goalless.

• The match was abandoned in the 13th minute, coinciding with the fans' traditional 'Presa, vete ya' chant.
• Vallecas was hosting its first league game after being closed due to serious health and safety issues.
• Rayo's players reported the pitch as unplayable last season and complained about a lack of hot water in the showers.
• Athletic Club announced it will refund tickets for fans who travelled to Madrid.

Protest in the 13th minute against Raúl Martín Presa

Rayo Vallecano fans have a fixed appointment in every match: in the 13th minute, the stands demand the departure of their president with the chant 'Presa, vete ya'. On Saturday, during the team's first LaLiga home game of the season, the protest escalated. Hundreds of paper planes and rubber balls rained down onto the field, forcing the referee to stop the match.

The official halted play and a stadium announcement urged fans to stop throwing objects while stewards cleared the items from the grass. The game resumed about fifteen minutes later, but only for a few seconds. The south stand launched another round of projectiles and the referee abandoned the match with the score still 0-0.

Return to a Vallecas closed for health and safety issues

The match against Athletic was Rayo's first at their own stadium this season after the venue had been temporarily closed. An audit had uncovered severe health and safety deficiencies, including the risk of contracting Legionnaires' disease. The preventive closure kept the team from playing at home during the opening weeks of the campaign.

Supporters have long blamed Raúl Martín Presa for the poor upkeep of club facilities and the lack of modernization. The reopening of Vallecas has not calmed the unrest; instead, it has given the frustrated crowd a bigger stage to voice their demands for change.

Player complaints and a historic European run

Last season, Rayo Vallecano's players went public with a letter describing the pitch at Vallecas as unplayable. The document, released by the Spanish football federation, also highlighted the absence of hot water in the dressing rooms and inadequate cleaning. The revelations put the club's decaying infrastructure under national scrutiny.

The team also began that campaign unable to use its own training ground due to mould. Despite these conditions, Rayo reached the final of the UEFA Conference League, losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace. That contrast between sporting achievement and structural neglect has only deepened the supporters' frustration.

The only LaLiga club without a ticketing website

Rayo Vallecano remains the only top-flight Spanish club without an official ticketing website. Fans regularly queue for hours at the stadium's small box office to buy match tickets. It is a situation that supporters blame on the paralysis of Presa's board and one that fuels the sense of neglect surrounding the club.

On the pitch, the team sits 13th in LaLiga with two wins from their opening seven matches. The abandonment against Athletic now opens an uncertain path: the game must be resumed or rescheduled, while the club and the league assess the disciplinary consequences of the incident at Vallecas.

Athletic Club to refund travelling fans

Athletic Club released a statement following the abandonment announcing that the club would contact its travelling supporters to arrange ticket refunds. The Bilbao outfit moved quickly to support fans who saw the match cut short just minutes after kick-off.