Real Madrid have demanded the immediate resignation of LaLiga president Javier Tebas after he compared the club’s management and television coverage of refereeing decisions to propaganda techniques used by Nazi Germany.
The club issued a statement on Friday describing the remarks as “intolerable and extraordinarily serious” and calling for Tebas to step down both as LaLiga president and as vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
The confrontation followed a social media post in which Tebas criticised Real Madrid’s handling of disputes over refereeing and accused the club of using its television channel to reinforce complaints about officials.
“Real Madrid’s management directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing,” Tebas wrote.
He was responding to articles published by two journalists in the newspaper El Debate, which argued that Tebas and LaLiga were acting against Real Madrid’s interests. Tebas accused the authors of amplifying a message on behalf of the club’s management. Reuters had asked El Debate for comment.
Tebas also criticised Real Madrid TV’s coverage of refereeing decisions, arguing that it repeatedly selected incidents that supported the club’s grievances.
“Their score is always the same: select the plays that suit them, repeat the grievance, feed the suspicion, and point fingers at the enemies,” he wrote.
He said the approach recalled propaganda mechanisms associated with Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s minister of propaganda. Tebas then sought to clarify the scope of his comparison, saying it concerned propaganda techniques rather than an ideology or the club’s supporters.
Real Madrid strongly rejected the remarks and said they were incompatible with the responsibilities of a league president.
“Tebas’ repeated conduct demonstrates a lack of neutrality, respect and impartiality incompatible with his institutional responsibilities,” the club said in its statement.
Madrid also objected to Tebas using questions, information and opinions from journalists to direct accusations at the club. It argued that the management should not be held responsible for comments made by third parties.
The latest dispute follows an earlier confrontation in September, when Real Madrid called for a new LaLiga president after Tebas described the club’s complaints about refereeing as “a smokescreen” for shortcomings on the pitch.
Tebas, 64, has led LaLiga since 2013. The president is elected by the 42 professional clubs in Spain’s top two divisions, and Tebas was re-elected unopposed in 2023 for a term that runs until 2027.
Despite the worsening relationship, Real Madrid remain involved in the league’s administration. LaLiga confirmed on Friday that the club is among six teams that will sit on its Executive Committee this season.
Madrid’s demand raises the pressure on Tebas, but the statement itself does not mean that he has resigned or that a change of leadership has been agreed. The dispute instead marks another escalation in the long-running conflict between the club and the league’s president over refereeing, public criticism and the conduct expected of football administrators.
