"It's a disgrace. We can't take it anymore." Players from a Spanish La Liga team send these messages because they had to visit their stadium to check the condition of the pitch a day before their scheduled match. They were not completely confident, found reasons for their doubts, and ended up issuing a statement against the club's presidency. They have showered many times with cold water, had to train an hour away from their sports city due to the "deficiencies" in the facilities, both inside and outside, received some delayed paychecks... It's the continuous "disaster" of Rayo Vallecano, a club that is currently playing in the Conference League, the third-tier European competition, has been in the La Liga for five consecutive seasons, and has shown profits in recent financial reports.
None of this sporting success seems to fix the institutional situation of the club presided over by Raúl Martín Presa, stuck in the eye of the storm for too long now with both the players and the fans. The postponement of last Saturday's match against Oviedo seems to have been the final straw for the players and supporters. "The pitch does not meet the necessary guarantees for the match to take place safely," stated the League as the reason for the match suspension. A few days earlier, Pep Chavarría, the left-back of the Vallecano team, had already warned on television that the Vallecas pitch was "a disgrace." "We can't play here," he insisted.
These statements were echoed in the team's statement through AFE after months of internal complaints to Presa. "During the preseason, the team was unable to train at our sports city for three months due to the poor condition of the pitches. In the last month, the state of the stadium pitch has been clearly deficient," the group pointed out in that text, referring to having to train at the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas during the early weeks of the season due to a fungus at the sports city. The statement also highlighted the "deficiencies in the facilities, such as the lack of hot water in the showers, inadequate cleanliness, and outdated facilities."
Just to give you an idea, in 2026, there is no wifi connection in the press boxes or stands at the Vallecas Stadium, something that is not the case in other professional football, basketball, or tennis leagues or tournaments in our country. Meanwhile, Presa deflects by publicly stating the need for a new stadium, likely away from the current Vallecas location. An idea that is met with strong rejection from the fans. "The owner of the stadium is the Community. Rayo has to leave this stadium, if it stays here, it will die," the president stated just a few days ago.
However, this economic need that Presa insists on clashes directly with the actions (or lack thereof) of the Rayo board in seeking and generating new income. One particular issue stands out. Rayo is part of the group of Spanish teams that joined the agreement with CVC, but has not received any amount due to not meeting the requirements, which essentially involve presenting a project to invest the estimated 30 million euros. So while other clubs are improving their sports cities or stadiums thanks to the money from the famous Impulse Plan, Vallecano remains at square one.