Real Betis striker Roman Zozulya has been forced to cut short his loan spell at Rayo Vallecano after fans of the second-tier club accused him of being a Nazi.

The 27-year-old Ukrainian wrote an open letter to fans of Rayo, who have a large left-wing fanbase, after his deadline-day move denying that he had links to the far-right.

However, supporters of the Madrid-based strugglers turned up to his first training session with a banner stating that their town was "not a place for Nazis".

As a result, Betis sporting director Miguel Torrecilla is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "We have decided it's in the best interests of the player to return to Seville."

Zozulya's open letter to fans on Tuesday read: "Unfortunately, my arrival in Spain was accompanied by a misunderstanding by a journalist who knows very little about the reality of my country and my own career.

"I arrived at Seville airport wearing a shirt with the badge of Ukraine. This journalist reported that I was wearing a shirt from a paramilitary group, whose badge is distinguished from the badge of my country.

"Betis asked for the article to be removed, which it was immediately after [the newspaper] recognised their error and apologised. As I stated at my presentation with Real Betis, I'm not linked to any paramilitary or neo-Nazi group."

Zozulya, who joined Betis from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the summer, will not be able to play again this season, because league rules say players cannot register for more than two teams in one campaign.