Early this Saturday morning and a few hours after Rayo-Oviedo was played at the Vallecas Stadium, the League decided to suspend the match that began at 2:00 p.m. to “preserve the physical integrity of the footballers” due to the poor conditions of the playing field. The Asturian team immediately published a statement in which it expressed its solidarity with Rayo and its protest this Friday by the players and the coaching staff. Although he has also shown his discomfort at the suspension of the match by claiming that “this decision is detrimental” to the Oviedo entity. “Consequently, the club announces that it will study and exercise any regulatory actions that may be appropriate before the competent bodies, with the aim of safeguarding the result of the match and guaranteeing equitable competitive conditions,” Oviedo reported.
To contextualize the suspension of the match we must go back to January 24. After the match between Rayo and Osasuna—where the Navarrese won 1-3—several Vallecano players showed their dissatisfaction with the conditions of the playing field. Among them Pep Chavarría and Álvaro García. The first exploded as soon as the final whistle was heard on Dazn’s microphones. “It’s a shame, we can’t play here.” Words to which the second added, already a veteran in the Vallecano team. “It’s not even regional, we’re tired of saying it. It’s very sad that, with how beautiful we play, we have the grass like this. They make excuses for us and it’s very difficult like this. We don’t receive even a little bit of help.”
Four days after the criticism, the Rayista team was preparing to train in its Ciudad Deportiva. But, as reported in EL PAIS, the training camps are a battlefield. Surfaces declared “unsuitable”, grass affected by fungi, sunken areas, fields with bald spots and erased lines. So both Iñigo Pérez and his players left the work session and the facilities to go to the Virgen de la Torre field, with artificial grass.
This Friday, just over a week later, the Rayo squad and the coaching staff decided to raise their voices in a statement through the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) to ask for “decent working conditions” from the club’s board of directors. “During the preseason, the squad spent nearly three months without being able to train in our Sports City due to the poor condition of the fields, being forced to leave the facilities to be able to do so on a field that met the necessary conditions to professionally carry out our work,” the statement reads. And he continues: “In the last month, the state of the grass at the Vallecas Stadium has been clearly deficient, a situation that has worsened as the weeks have passed and that has been reflected both in previous matches and in the situation experienced today, a few hours before playing a new official match. We consider that the playing field does not meet the minimum conditions required to play a top-flight match. Added to this situation are deficiencies in the facilities that we use daily, such as the lack of hot water. in the showers on certain days, cleaning that has not always been adequate and obsolete facilities. All of these points have been previously transferred to the club’s presidency on different occasions. However, the promised solutions and explanations received so far have not effectively resolved a situation that we understand cannot continue any longer, since we see our physical integrity and our basic working conditions in danger.
That physical integrity that the Rayo players referred to is what has led the League to suspend this afternoon’s match against Oviedo. “The decision was made after verifying that, at the current time, the playing field does not meet the necessary guarantees for holding the match in safe conditions,” the statement begins. Although he has also made reference to the work carried out by the club’s board this week and playing down the issue. “It should be noted that Rayo Vallecano has made significant efforts during this week, undertaking the complete change of the grass on the playing field, with the aim that the match could be played normally. However, the adverse weather conditions during the execution of these works, as well as the weather forecasts for the next few hours, with continued rain, have prevented the grass from reaching the necessary optimal state.”
Oviedo, for its part, has not waited to respond to the announcement of the suspension of the match. The bottom of the League has expressed solidarity with the Vallecas club and has appreciated the gesture of the League for prioritizing the physical integrity of the footballers. Although, yes, they allege that “this decision represents obvious harm” to the entity. The Oviedo team claims sporting and economic damage. And, finally, it has announced that it will study measures before the relevant organizations. “Real Oviedo expresses its deep discontent over the serious setback generated and the substantial alteration of the conditions of availability of players that directly affects our team, taking into account the qualifying situation and the relevance of the points in dispute for both entities. Consequently, the club will study and exercise any regulatory actions that may be appropriate before the competent bodies, with the aim of safeguarding the result of the match and guaranteeing equitable competitive conditions.”
The mess in Vallecas is still in force. Its president, Raúl Martín Presa, continues with his idea of leaving that stadium and moving the team to another place in the face of opposition from fans who want to remain in the neighborhood and who have called a demonstration at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday to protest at the locker room door.
