Real Madrid have demanded that LaLiga president Javier Tebas resign, after he compared the rhetoric of the club’s management to the propaganda methods used by the Nazi Party in Germany. The demand was made on Friday, the same day Tebas posted on social media that the club’s management “directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing.”
Tebas was responding to articles by two journalists who had said he and LaLiga were acting against Real’s interests. He added that the authors, who write for the El Debate newspaper, were amplifying a message on behalf of Real’s management. El Debate was asked for comment on the matter.
Tebas links club messaging to Goebbels methods
Tebas also criticised Real Madrid TV’s coverage of officiating at the club’s matches. “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 went on to name Joseph Goebbels, whom he described as Nazi Germany’s Minister of Propaganda, saying the method recalled the propaganda mechanisms Goebbels used. Tebas stressed that the comparison was with those techniques, not with an ideology or with the club’s supporters.
Real Madrid call for Tebas to step down
Real Madrid released a statement later on Friday demanding that Tebas resign from his posts as LaLiga chief and as vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The club called it “intolerable and extraordinarily serious” that Tebas had used a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime to discredit the club, its management and its television channel.
The statement said Tebas’s repeated conduct showed a lack of neutrality, respect and impartiality, which it said was incompatible with his institutional role. It also objected to him using questions or opinions from journalists unconnected with the club to direct accusations at Real, attributing to it actions of third parties.
A feud that dates back to September
The dispute deepens an existing feud between the club and the league’s chief. In September, Real called for a new LaLiga president after Tebas described the club’s complaints about refereeing decisions as a smokescreen for its shortcomings on the pitch.
Tebas, 64, is elected by the 42 professional clubs in Spain’s top two tiers and has been LaLiga president since 2013. He was reelected unopposed in 2023 for a term running until 2027. Real’s statement came hours after LaLiga confirmed that the club is one of six that will sit on the league’s Executive Committee this season.
