Madrid’s long-running institutional fault line has widened again, with Spain’s top sports official calling on Javier Tebas to apologise after the LaLiga president compared Real Madrid’s communication methods with propaganda techniques associated with Joseph Goebbels.
José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), said the comparison crossed an unacceptable boundary given Tebas’s position at the head of the domestic competition and as a vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation.
Quick facts
- The CSD president has urged Javier Tebas to issue a public apology to Real Madrid.
- Tebas linked the club’s communications and Real Madrid TV to propaganda methods used under Nazi Germany.
- Real Madrid has demanded that Tebas leave his roles at LaLiga and the RFEF.
- Tebas says the club’s criticism of refereeing and football authorities is damaging LaLiga.
- Barcelona president Joan Laporta has backed Tebas during the dispute.
Rodríguez Uribes said Nazi and Goebbels references should not be used as comparisons, particularly by the president of a league when speaking about one of its participating clubs. In his view, the remarks went beyond the normal limits of free expression.
He added that Tebas should apologise, arguing that senior sports administrators must uphold sporting values and fair play. The CSD chief said, however, that any decision on possible disciplinary action belongs to other bodies.
The row began with a lengthy post by Tebas on X, where he criticised the communication approach of Real Madrid’s board and the club’s television channel. He accused them of sustaining suspicion around refereeing and promoting a narrative hostile to LaLiga.
Tebas wrote that Madrid’s leadership was directing an “orchestra” of spokespeople, with Real Madrid TV taking the leading role. He later drew a parallel with propaganda practices under Goebbels, citing repeated messaging, the creation of adversaries and the shaping of facts around a predetermined story.
The LaLiga president maintained that his reference concerned propaganda mechanisms alone, rather than Nazi ideology. Madrid rejected that distinction and described the comments as deeply offensive and morally repugnant.
The European champions said Tebas’s conduct was incompatible with the offices he holds in Spanish football. The club called for him to resign both as LaLiga president and as vice-president of the RFEF.
Tebas has since answered with another social-media response, accusing Madrid of seeking to undermine LaLiga through sustained attacks on referees and the institutions governing the competition. He described the club’s demand for his departure as intimidation and said its public line was destabilising the championship.
The confrontation is the latest in a broader struggle between Tebas and Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. Their disagreements have previously extended to the proposed European Super League, audiovisual rights and LaLiga’s plans to stage matches in the United States.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has entered the argument on Tebas’s side. He said the LaLiga chief has the experience required to withstand Madrid’s criticism of the league, the Technical Committee of Referees and the Spanish federation.
