In Madrid, the long-running dispute between LaLiga and Spain’s most powerful club has opened another front, with Javier Tebas rejecting Real Madrid’s demand that he step down from his posts in the domestic game. The LaLiga president described the campaign against him as “intimidation” and said efforts to remove him have persisted for 13 years.
Real Madrid had called for Tebas to resign immediately as LaLiga president and as vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation. The club’s statement followed his criticism of Real Madrid TV and his comparison of the channel’s methods with the propaganda associated with Joseph Goebbels.
Responding in a lengthy social-media message on Friday, Tebas defended his record and said his institutional independence did not require him to remain quiet when he believed Spain’s competition was being attacked.
A dispute reaching beyond the touchline
Tebas said he had lost count of the occasions on which Madrid officials had sought his removal or disqualification, whether through complaints to the Higher Sports Council or court proceedings. “What still has not arrived are the answers,” he wrote.
The LaLiga chief again challenged the role played by Real Madrid TV, whose broadcasts have repeatedly criticised referees. He argued that broad allegations against match officials could not establish the individual responsibility of every referee, and urged the club to produce specific evidence for its claims.
He also rejected the suggestion that LaLiga had stood aside in the Negreira case, which concerns payments made by Barcelona to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s refereeing committee. Tebas said LaLiga acted from the outset.
Questions over Barcelona, the Super League and scheduling
Tebas challenged Real Madrid’s stance towards Barcelona and recalled remarks he attributed to Florentino Pérez at Madrid’s Assembly of Delegate Members in November 2024. According to Tebas, the Madrid president said the two clubs needed to support each other.
He questioned whether the club’s tougher public line was connected to Barcelona’s break with the Super League project, the proposed European competition backed for years by Real Madrid and initially by Barcelona.
The LaLiga president said refereeing reform should be developed with the involvement of the various parties across Spanish football, rather than shaped around the wishes of one institution. “Reform does not mean obeying them,” was the thrust of his response.
He further called on Real Madrid to clarify reports, attributed to sources at the club, concerning alleged refereeing disadvantages and kick-off scheduling. Tebas asked for the publication of the fixture changes requested by Madrid and the number of those requests that had been granted.
Tebas recalls alleged threat
The sharpest element of Tebas’s statement was his recollection of an alleged warning directed at him over his public and professional life. He said he remembered being told: “I will turn the entire Real Madrid fanbase against you and you will not be able to walk down the street.”
For now, the argument remains rooted in boardrooms, federation offices and public statements rather than the pitch. But with refereeing, Barcelona’s Negreira case, television criticism and the Super League all woven into the row, the latest exchange has again exposed the fault lines running through Spanish football.
