The Yomus reappear on the scene to intimidate Valencia

Nothing like a crisis to attract radicals. Also in soccer. Ultra Yomus, the Valencia CF supporters club, expelled from the stands of the Mestalla stadium in 2019 for their violent conduct, has reappeared on the club’s social scene just when Valencianism is in turmoil due to the threat of the team’s relegation to the second division. The leader of the new Yomus, Ramón Castro, alias Levis, a well-known Valencian fascist, with a criminal record and a Celtic cross tattooed on his right hand, tried to embed himself a little over a year ago in the Curva Nord, the entertainment stands at Mestalla , to take control of it. And lead it. “I’m back,” he said in a video posted on social media. And he added: “Everyone who was expelled from the Curva Nord has to come back. Everyone has to cheer.” But since the doors of the field were closed to him -Valencia made a statement in November 2021 rejecting any collaboration with Yomus-, he and his team approach the stands and the club in other ways.

On Saturday, the Yomus issued a statement on their social networks announcing “next actions” and expressing their rejection of all the leaders of the entity, who, they said, “are staining the name of a historic club.” He added the note: “We cannot allow them to divide us, we must all be united and fight for the same goal: to free our team from the hands of some mercenary people.” The message closed with “now yes, all united, Peter go now”.

His first action came this Sunday. They wanted to point out and distance themselves from the rest of the fans, who on Thursday at the Mestalla had criticized the players during the Copa del Rey quarterfinal match, which ended with their elimination at the hands of Athletic. Anger from the stands and incidents after the game. Some radical supporters waited for the players as they left the stadium – they even hit Yunus Musah’s car. Just a few days later, the ultra Yomus showed up at the Manises airport, with their leader at the helm. There, at the exit of the airport’s private flight terminal and behind a police cordon, they received the team and the coaching staff, who had just lost the league match in Valladolid.

Posted on their Twitter profile, the Yomus have posted the video of their welcome to the team. It shows how its leader, Ramón Castro, with an extensive criminal record, talks with coach Gennaro Gattuso for about a minute. The players contemplate the scene in the rear. In the text that accompanies the video there is a veiled warning to the squad, one point from the relegation zone in the table: “Today we have received the team to express our support, we will always be by the side of the team, but we also hope their part that they feel like it and don’t drag our shield. We know that problems come from above, with our colors we will always be there!”

In the talk, Gattuso took responsibility for the bad timing of the squad – “I am responsible,” he told Castro – and excused the players by saying that they were “young”. Castro promised support and then the ultras began to shout and sing songs in favor of the team; one of them called Paulista and the Brazilian came over to say hello and shook his hand. The players, who had been standing, listening and silent, got on the bus. In that scene there was a moment when Gattuso, nervous, slapped the camera of the regional television À Punt, which was recording the dialogue with the radicals. The technician called those responsible for the chain on Monday to apologize for his behavior.

From the club they interpret that the maneuver of the Yomus responds to the need of the supporters club to whiten their image and, after the row on Thursday in Mestalla, to distinguish themselves in their support for the team at a time when the stands are up against each other. players and coach. The club assures that it has not used the ultras to provoke a reaction of any kind and denies that it summoned them at the airport. Although, the official version adds that the fans were waiting in the private terminal and that when the players arrived they were told to go say hello and thank them for their support. They affirm in Valencia that they did not know who exactly those followers were, despite the fact that Castro was there and that a banner identified them as Yomus. The club also remembers that it expelled them from the Mestalla stands and that it remains firm in that decision. Although it does not seem that Castro needed his permission to lead the most radical Valencianists out of the stadium.

The most affected after Yomus’s visit to the airport has been Gattuso. The Italian, who is going through his lowest hours as Valencia coach, has been harshly criticized for his talk with the radical leader. Valencia insists that the coach does not know who Ramón Castro is and excuses him. Gattuso may not remember it, but Castro shows on his social networks a photo with him at the Manises airport just the day he arrived in Valencia.

The Valencia Provincial Court sentenced four ultras in 2005, including Castro, to two and a half years in prison for the crimes of public disorder, attack against authority, a lack of injuries and damages against several police officers. The incidents occurred in 2002 during the Super Cup match between the Mestalla team and Deportivo.

You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook Y Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.