The match of the 20th round of the Segund, in which the “Rayo Vallecano” hosted the “Albacete”, ended with one of the most high-profile scandals in the history of the Spanish championships. The meeting was interrupted after the first half due to the ambiguous behavior of Madrid fans.
A few minutes after the starting whistle, fans of “Rayo Vallecano” began to chant insults at the attacking guests of the Roman Zozuli. In their chants, they called the Ukrainian a Nazi, showed indecent gestures and booed him every time they touched the ball.
The stadium announcer asked to stop the persecution, but the fans did not accept his words. Then the chief judge Jose Antonio Lopez Toka suspended the meeting, after a while it was continued. However, during the break, the Albacete players, in solidarity with their teammate, refused to leave the podium, and the match was interrupted.
The decision to cancel the game was taken jointly with representatives of both teams and supported by the leadership of La Liga. Raio Vallecano president Raul Martin Presa did not defend his fans and strongly condemned their behavior.
“This is a sad day for Rayo and the whole sport. We are categorically against the fans insulting the opponents. Football should unite, not divide. I talked with Zozul and supported him, because he is a living person and deserves respect, ”quotes The Guardian as saying.
Supported by the player and teammates. On his Twitter page, goalkeeper Tomeu Nadal emphasized that any insults against the match participants are unacceptable.
“I respect all ideologies. Everyone is free to decide this issue for himself. I only defend football. We want to enjoy the sport and set an example in this area for the millions of children who see us every week, ”said the goalkeeper.
Zozulya himself did not comment on the incident, however, according to the vice-president of the Castilian team, Victor Varela, he extremely painfully reacted to the actions of the fans and burst into tears in the locker room. Agent Vladimir Kuzmenko later spoke on behalf of the footballer. He called the allegations of involvement in Nazism absurd, and expressed gratitude for the support.
“Roman and I want to thank the leaders and players of Albacete for their great support, the Association of Spanish Soccer Players (AFE), the press, and fans from Ukraine who were present at the stadium. Thanks to everyone. It would be much more difficult without you. With your support, we have more strength and desire to continue this difficult journey far from the homeland, ”Kuzmenko wrote on Facebook.
However, fans continued to insist on their own after the match. On the page of the main fan association “Rayo Vallecano”, “Buccaneros”, known for its extremely left-wing views, a new appeal to the athlete appeared.
“Not because of racism, xenophobia or violence. For the first time the game in Spain was interrupted due to the truth. Zozulya, you are a Nazi, ”the statement said.
It is worth noting that the conflict between the striker and the Spanish fans did not begin at all the day before. In February 2017, Zozulya actually moved to Rayo Vallecano from Betis, but the transfer was disrupted by Bukaneros. The news that the attacker joined the team on a rental basis, caused a wave of discontent from the fans.
Then they accused the attacker of financing the military operation of the Ukrainian army in Donetsk and Lugansk and ties with nationalists. As confirmation, his photographs with Nazi symbols were given. In addition, in the metropolitan area of Vallecas, where the team is based, protests were held, and threats began to come against the football player.
Other versions of what happened were called. Including dissatisfaction of fans with the actions of the leadership of “Rayo Vallecano”, as well as a long-standing feud between Madrid and Seville fan groups. As a result, the contract had to be terminated, and Zozulya was forced to miss the end of the 2016/17 season due to the rule of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which forbids players to change more than two teams in the same season.
A similar situation repeated in July 2018, but this time it was about fans of Oviedo. They also actively opposed the transition of the Ukrainian to their team, and the transfer failed.
In April of this year, the famous Spanish public figure and politician Pablo Iglesias Turrion opposed the Ukrainian. He emphasized that in this case we are not talking about the political views of an individual, but about neo-Nazism. Then the leadership of “Albacete” sided with the player, and he intended to sue.
This match was the first Zozuli's trip to Madrid after the 2017 incident. The Spanish media reported that he planned to skip it at all, because he was afraid for his own safety, but at the last moment decided to help the team.