Real Madrid have formally demanded the immediate resignation of LaLiga president Javier Tebas from both his league role and his vice-presidency at the Royal Spanish Football Federation, after he invoked the name of Nazi Germany's minister of propaganda in a social media attack on the club.
Tebas published a lengthy post on X on Friday in which he accused Real Madrid's management of running an orchestrated campaign to portray the club as victims of official bias. He argued that the approach taken by Real Madrid TV — regularly broadcasting clips of what it regards as significant errors by match officials — recalled propaganda mechanisms used by Goebbels, citing systematic repetition, the construction of an enemy, and the subordination of facts to a pre-set narrative.
He subsequently sought to contain the fallout by clarifying that the comparison was with propaganda techniques rather than with Nazi ideology. Real Madrid rejected that distinction entirely in their formal response, issued on Friday, October 16. The club said in their statement that his clarification offered no mitigation and that the remarks remained deeply offensive, morally repugnant, and institutionally unworthy.
"Real Madrid CF considers it absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious that someone who occupies two positions of utmost responsibility in Spanish football should resort to a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime to discredit our club, its management and its television," the club declared. They added that it was particularly significant that Tebas was dedicating his efforts to discrediting Real Madrid rather than using his institutional responsibilities to pursue clarification of what they called very serious facts and to promote the regeneration of Spanish football.
The club's statement was intertwined with its grievances over the Negreira case. Real Madrid sent 50,000 pages of evidence to UEFA earlier this month concerning payments allegedly made by Barcelona to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain's technical committee of referees. The allegations centre on payments of more than £7 million across 17 years from 2001 while Negreira held that post. Barcelona have consistently denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the money was paid for scouting and technical reports provided by a company belonging to the 81-year-old.
Real Madrid said they had approached UEFA to seek full clarification of those payments and to request measures to protect competition integrity. The club described it as especially concerning that Tebas had referenced the Negreira case in his post while, in their view, failing to act through his institutional responsibilities.
Tebas showed no sign of retreating once Madrid's demand was published. He turned on what he called "Real Madrid TV and its lapdogs" and accused the club of trying to destroy LaLiga.
The two parties have clashed repeatedly this season. In September, Real Madrid had already called for Tebas to step down following his criticism of the club after their 2-1 defeat at Atlético Madrid, in which they complained about refereeing decisions. Tebas responded at that time by accusing the club of fabricating a permanent conspiracy around officiating. Head coach José Mourinho has also publicly stated that Real Madrid are regularly harmed by referees. Real host fifth-placed Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday.
Reporting: Football España, The Sun, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, ESPN, The Guardian.