Real Madrid called on Friday for LaLiga president Javier Tebas to resign after he compared the club’s approach to officiating complaints to propaganda techniques used by Nazi Germany’s Joseph Goebbels. The demand marks the latest flashpoint in a long-running feud between the club and the league’s leadership.
Tebas drew the comparison while criticizing how Real Madrid‘s club television channel regularly airs clips of what it considers refereeing errors ahead of upcoming matches. “The executive of Real Madrid has an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid leads the way,” Tebas said. “Its script is always the same: select plays that favor it, repeat the alleged affront, increase suspicion and name enemies. It reminds one of the propaganda techniques that Goebbels used.”
The Comments At The Center Of The Dispute
Tebas later sought to narrow the scope of his remarks. “The comparison is with the techniques, not with the ideology or, of course, with Madrid fans,” he said. The clarification did not stop Real Madrid from issuing a formal statement demanding his resignation hours later.
Real Madrid framed the comments as part of a pattern rather than an isolated remark. The club said Tebas’s “repeated conduct demonstrates a lack of neutrality, respect, and impartiality incompatible with his institutional responsibilities,” adding that “his constant attacks on Real Madrid and those demanding transparency and regeneration represent, in our club’s view, a genuine scourge for Spanish football.”
What It Means For LaLiga Leadership
The statement puts fresh public pressure on Tebas, who has led LaLiga since 2013, though the league has not indicated any change in his position is under consideration. Real Madrid also pointed to what it views as inaction from Tebas regarding an ongoing judicial probe into alleged payments by Barcelona to an official connected to the Spanish soccer federation’s refereeing committee, arguing it shows inconsistency in how he addresses officiating controversies across the league.
A Pattern Of Clashes
This is not the first time Real Madrid has sought Tebas’s removal. In September, the club made the same demand after Tebas criticized Real Madrid for attacking the officiating crew following a 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid, according to the FOX Sports report on the aftermath of that match.
The friction between Tebas and Real Madrid, including club president Florentino Pérez, has played out repeatedly over the years, according to the Houston Chronicle. Real Madrid holds a record 36 Spanish league titles, a status the club has invoked in past disputes over how LaLiga officiating and governance are handled.
What’s Next
Neither LaLiga nor Tebas has announced any response to Real Madrid’s resignation demand beyond his original clarification of the Goebbels comparison. No further action from either side has been confirmed, and the dispute remains unresolved as the two parties continue their long-standing disagreement over officiating and club conduct.
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