According to Sport, thousands of Rayo Vallecano fans marched on Saturday to protest against club president Raúl Martín Presa and demand his resignation.

Rayo Vallecano fans, convened by the ADRV platform and the Federation of Supporters' Clubs, demonstrated with the slogan "Vallecas belongs to Rayo, otherwise it's not Rayo" to defend the club and its history, continuously chanting slogans against Presa. Fans believe that Presa's management has led the club into a dire administrative and sporting situation.

The march started from the Assembly of the Community of Madrid and ended at the Vallecas Stadium. As the stadium's usage rights had been revoked for over a month, Rayo Vallecano was forced to play its second consecutive match in Leganés, at the Butarque Stadium, against Racing Santander. Fans viewed this march as a protest against the club's management, accusing them of causing the team's current predicament.

At the front of the procession hung a banner reading: "Rayo Vallecano belongs to Vallecas. Rayo Vallecano, SOS. Presa, forbidden to serve." Approximately 3,000 fans followed the banner, expressing their dissatisfaction along the way.

Slogans such as "We don't want to watch you destroy Rayo Vallecano" and "Presa, get out" were repeatedly chanted during the march. The fans participating in the demonstration did not go to the Butarque Stadium as a form of protest. A similar situation occurred on August 20th against Alavés, when only about 1,000 to 2,000 fans attended, despite Rayo Vallecano having over 12,000 members.

Several well-known Rayo Vallecano personalities also joined the march, including former players Jesús Diego Cota, Ramón de Quintana, Antonio Anero, and Natalia de Pablo. They had previously voiced their support for the fans' action on social media.

The club's sporting and administrative situation is in one of its most difficult phases, and fans continue to condemn Presa's management.

From Vallecas to Butarque

A month ago, the Community of Madrid, as the owner of the Vallecas Stadium, decided to revoke Rayo Vallecano's right to use the venue and carry out construction work on the stadium. The regional government stated that the stadium had "serious safety deficiencies causing overall deterioration and severe violations of relevant regulations."

In the following days, Rayo Vallecano worked to meet the requirements set by the Community of Madrid and conducted an audit, resulting in a report exceeding 1,000 pages. Currently, the regional government's technical staff are reviewing this report but have not yet approved the stadium's reopening to the public.

Rayo Vallecano told EFE several times this week that the stadium is "fully capable of safely hosting matches" and urged the Community of Madrid to "resolve this situation as soon as possible" to allow everything to return to normal. Rayo Vallecano also accused the regional government of "serving other interests."

The Community of Madrid stated that it would not return the usage rights to Rayo Vallecano until all safety and health requirements are met, emphasizing that "not all requirements have been met yet."

The most affected by this controversy are Rayo Vallecano's more than 12,000 members. They renewed their season tickets expecting to watch the team play at Vallecas, but this is now not possible.

At the general assembly held last weekend, fan representatives stated that they have contacted FACUA and several law firms and are exploring whether to file a class-action lawsuit for the financial and emotional damages suffered after renewing their season tickets.

AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com