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Tens of thousands of Valencia football club fans took to the streets to protest against the club and club owner, Singaporean billionaire, Peter Lim.
The latest mass demonstrations took place on Feb. 11 during a match on home ground between Valencia and Athletic Club.
🇪🇦 Valencia vs Ath. Bilbao 11/02/2023
— 101% ULTRAS (@101ULTRAS) February 12, 2023
Valencia fans at protest against club owner Peter Lim. pic.twitter.com/NEHHC0BnXn
News of the mass protests were reported by The Guardian, and many other media.
Tens of thousands of supporters of the club had boycotted Saturday's game by waiting and protesting outside the stadium instead of being inside to watch proceedings.
The match ended with Valencia losing 1-2 to Athletic Club on Saturday, despite being a goal up in the 16th minute.
Valencia is currently ranked 18th out of 20 clubs in the Spanish La Liga -- in the relegation zone -- with more than half the season gone.
The last time the team won a La Liga game was three months ago in November 2022-- winless since the World Cup.
This is the first time that Valencia have been in a relegation position this late in a season since 1986.
That was the only year they were relegated after the season.
At this stage in their campaign, Valencia has been knocked out of the Copa del Rey and have collected just one of 21 league points.
Four consecutive defeats makes this current streak the second-worst run in their history.
What fans did
The fans demanded the departure of Singaporean billionaire club owner Peter Lim.
During the protests, they held up yellow cards that said, “Lim, go home”.
Protest songs with the lyrics, “Peter, go now!” were sang, over and over.
Protesters also called for Lim to sell the club if he was not actively overseeing their success.
He has not been at Mestalla in almost five years.
Valencia is currently managed by its 15th coach in nine years.
In the summer, Valencia brought in Gennaro Gattuso as coach, but he has vacated the position.
He had a string of successes, but failed to turn the club's fortunes on the pitch around.
Gattuso subsequently came to Singapore to see Lim -- “my wife doesn’t like it, but I have to go”, he said, according to The Guardian -- and decided to walk away.
His role was then taken over by caretaker manager Salvador González Marco, a familiar emergency replacement who has stepped in repeatedly over the years.
Background
Lim, 69, took over in 2014 to massive fanfare as he was regarded as the club's saviour.
The current club president is Chan Lay Hoon, a fellow Singaporean.
Lim paid €22 million (S$31.4 million) and loaned a further €72 million (S$103 million) for a 70 per cent stake, which has since gone beyond 80 per cent with his total investments above €200 million (S$286 million).
On Feb. 13, Valencia's technical secretary and corporate director landed in Singapore to discuss another replacement, according to The Guardian, signalling the club could be on to its 16th coach.
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