Spain’s national sports council has asked the country’s sports tribunal to assess whether La Liga president Javier Tebas committed an offence by comparing Real Madrid’s communication methods with those of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The council made the request on Thursday.
The council said in a statement that it had referred the matter to the Administrative Court for Sport (TAD) over a post Tebas made on the social media platform X on October 16. The tribunal must decide whether his remarks could amount to a serious offence under Spain’s 1990 Sports Law, which covers “notorious and public acts that harm sporting dignity or decorum”.
Tebas defends his remarks on Madrid’s propaganda
Tebas said Real Madrid’s in-house television channel often suggested that referees try to stop the club from winning. He said these tactics “recall propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels”. He later said he had been referring to “those propaganda techniques”, not the ideology of the Nazis.
On Thursday, he repeated the point in another X post, saying his comment had “distinguished between propaganda techniques and ideology”. He also asked why Madrid’s claim that the refereeing system was corrupt did not affect sporting dignity and decorum, writing: “Does it not harm clubs, referees, and millions of fans?”
Real Madrid’s demand and the council’s position
Real Madrid called for Tebas, 64, to resign after he criticised the club’s efforts to discredit refereeing in Spain. The council said “it is essential to preserve the values that make sport a space of respect, coexistence, and fair play”.
Real Madrid criticise referees most weeks on their television channel. Last year, the club accused officiating in Spain of being “rigged” and “totally discredited”.
