Real Madrid have called for LaLiga president Javier Tebas to resign after he compared the club’s media messaging with propaganda techniques associated with Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s Minister of Propaganda.
Tebas made the comments on social media on Friday while criticising the coverage of refereeing decisions by Real Madrid TV.
“Real Madrid’s management directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing,” he wrote.
His remarks followed articles by two journalists claiming that Tebas and LaLiga were acting against Real Madrid’s interests. Tebas said the authors, writing in El Debate, were amplifying a message on behalf of the club’s management. Reuters has asked El Debate for comment.
Tebas also accused Real Madrid TV of repeatedly presenting incidents in a way that supported the club’s complaints about officiating.
“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 said.
“That method recalls propaganda mechanisms used by Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s Minister of Propaganda.
“The comparison is with those propaganda techniques, not with an ideology or, of course, with the Madridista fanbase.”
Real Madrid responded by demanding that Tebas leave both his position as LaLiga president and his role as vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
The club described the comments as “intolerable and extraordinarily serious”, saying Tebas had used “a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime to discredit our club, its management and its television”.
“Tebas’ repeated conduct demonstrates a lack of neutrality, respect and impartiality incompatible with his institutional responsibilities,” Real Madrid said.
“It is unacceptable that he even takes advantage of questions, information or opinions from journalists unrelated to the club to direct his accusations at us, attributing to us actions of third parties for which we bear no responsibility.”
The dispute is the latest escalation in a long-running disagreement between Real Madrid and the LaLiga chief.
In September, Real Madrid called for a new LaLiga president after Tebas described the club’s complaints about refereeing decisions as “a smokescreen” for shortcomings on the pitch.
Tebas, 64, has been LaLiga president since 2013. He is elected by the 42 professional clubs in Spain’s top two divisions and was re-elected unopposed in 2023, with his current term running until 2027.
Real Madrid issued their statement only hours after LaLiga confirmed that the club was one of six sides who would sit on the league’s Executive Committee this season.
