MADRID — Real Madrid called on Friday for the immediate resignation of La Liga President Javier Tebas after the league executive compared the club’s media messaging to tactics used by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
The dispute marks a severe escalation in the long-running feud between Spanish soccer’s most successful club and the head of its domestic league. Tebas, 64, also serves as vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
A dispute over media coverage
The controversy ignited earlier Friday when Tebas addressed coverage by the Spanish publication El Debate and programming on Real Madrid TV, the club’s in-house broadcast channel. Tebas contended that Madrid leaders were orchestrating media narratives regarding match refereeing and game scheduling.
“Real Madrid’s management directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing,” Tebas wrote in a social media post, arguing that the channel’s focus on perceived officiating errors recalled propaganda methods used by Goebbels during the Nazi regime. While making the comparison, Tebas attempted to clarify that his criticism applied to communication methods rather than Nazi ideology or Madrid fans.
Real Madrid responded with an official statement condemning the comparison as “institutionally unworthy” and “morally repugnant.”
“Real Madrid C. F. considers it absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious that someone holding two positions of utmost responsibility in Spanish football resorts to a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime to discredit our club, its management, and its television,” the club said in its statement.
The club asserted that Tebas has demonstrated a consistent lack of neutrality and impartiality, disqualifying him from remaining at the helm of Spanish soccer governance. Real Madrid also renewed calls for a structural overhaul of Spanish refereeing and federative leadership.
Simmering tensions and the Negreira case
Friday’s clash is part of a broader conflict between Tebas and Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez. The club previously demanded Tebas step down in September after he described Madrid’s frequent referee complaints as a smokescreen for on-field performances.
Friction has also intensified over the Negreira case, an ongoing corruption investigation into payments made over multiple years by rival FC Barcelona to a former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee. Real Madrid has complained about domestic soccer administrators’ handling of the issue, taking evidence directly to European governing body UEFA.
Hours after Madrid published its statement, Tebas posted another response online, dismissing the club’s demand as an act of intimidation. Tebas noted that Madrid officials have repeatedly pushed for his removal during his 13 years leading the organization. He accused the club’s leadership of pursuing a distorted narrative to harm the domestic tournament following its involvement in the proposed European Super League project.
Spain’s National Sports Council is considering taking action regarding Tebas’s statements, sports newspaper MARCA reported. Tebas questioned the prospect of an inquiry on social media, defending his right to free expression while reiterating that his remarks addressed propaganda techniques rather than ideology.
