Bistuer: “Remove the stadium from Rayo? It would be taking it away from the neighborhood, not from the president. That will never be done”

The general director of Sports of the Community of Madrid, Coral Bistuer, has appeared this Monday in the Tourism and Sports Commission of the Madrid Assembly, where it has once again pronounced on the Vallecas stadium and the fee of 81,784.84 euros, corresponding to the year 2021, that the red-and-red club has pending payment. An issue that was uncovered at last month’s meeting, after a question from the regional deputy of the PSOE, Santiago Rivero. Said spokesman requested, on this occasion, more information about the Technical Commission and how was the situation of the payment of the fee for the facilities.

“On February 25, 2020, a meeting was held with the president of Rayo and it was discussed the execution project (phase 1) of the stadium, as well as the commitments on its part in that concession order. On October 7, 2020 there was another meeting to analyze the state of the works of that phase. On November 18, 2020 the Works Plan was agreed with the club to cover the demands presented by Rayo for compliance with the standards imposed by the LaLiga television regulations. There was a reorganization and adaptation of the activity. On April 14, 2021, a meeting was held with the company TRAGSATEC, which pointed out that the few developments of the works in progress depended on the drafting and approval of a modified project and on the other, the execution of specific works, drafted and necessary by LaLiga. In addition, some exclusive meetings have been held with the supporters clubs. On October 3, 2019, Roberto Núñez attended and on August 6, 2021, another one carried out by me as General Director of Sports. On October 28, the Deputy Minister appeared in person, in order to collect his main demands and opinions“, explained Bistuer, who wanted to point out: “The modification of the project, by Rayo, took more than two months when a period of one week had been established. Then the project supervision office issued an unfavorable report. When something changes, it’s like going back to square one.”

“At this time, said by the Treasury, not only is the 2021 rate not paid, but we don’t even know why. Just as the Community has done a number of rebalancings, the Lightning was also allowed to do so. He was required on several occasions. They did not send that documentation. They didn’t answer us. Communication with the Rayo presidency is very difficult,” he replied to the spokesman for VOX, which had previously stated that the transfer of that amount had already been made. Regarding the fact of resorting to higher instances so that the law would be complied with for such non-payments, an aspect formulated by More Madridthe general director of Sports replied: “Removing the stadium from Rayo is not taking it away from the president, but from the neighborhood. The Community will never be there. The stadium belongs to Vallecas and it will not be removed. Now, it is true that, given the non-payment of the fee, the Community has to do something because it is the money of the people of Madrid. Our responsibility is to ask him and we have done it in a thousand possible ways. Communication is very complicated. There has been no response of any kind. And unfortunately there will come a time when the decision we make is that of a request by way of urgency. We will have no other. They are leading us to it. That said, the club’s management has not fulfilled part of the obligations assumed in the concession agreement. That fee, they just wrote to me, is still not paid at the Community Treasury“.

In addition, Coral Bistuer listed some of the problems that have arisen over this time with the entity. “On October 14, 2021, the Lightning Reforms gates 5 and 7 of the stadium without requesting authorization from the General Directorate of Sports, and these works may have a negative impact on the agreed reform. On November 5, 2021, a document is made requesting the payment of the fee for year 21, the presentation of the building maintenance plan and a copy of the audited accounts for the year 2020. On November 17 we ask that, please, the companions of people with disabilities have the same price in subscriptions as these and are close to them, not at the other end of the stadium. Something logical and normal. February 7 a request for the formal reservation of the stadium was sent to him by the Carrera del Rayismo, which has been returned. They haven’t received it. Being this an emblematic race, where does it leave the rocks? “, She exposed.

Before ending his speech, the General Director of Sports expressed her will to understand with Rayo. “The simple communication with the club is not being particularly easy, we trust that it will be normalized as soon as possible and we are doing everything in our power to make it so. We are complying with the concession and, at all times, we have been guided by respect for the agreement, the improvement of the facilities and by collecting the requests for modifications by the club. This process can be very frustrating, but we have an obligation to do it and it is being done. There is a firm objective, the safety and accessibility of the stadium so that the supporters clubs have a modern, safe and competitive field. So that I want to send a message of relative calm. The Community has carried out a correct process and has always been guided by the improvement of the installation”, he concluded.