Real Madrid demands La Liga president Javier Tebas resign over Goebbels comparison
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The gist
Real Madrid demanded La Liga president Javier Tebas resign after he likened its club TV channel's tactics to Nazi propaganda.
The feud over refereeing pressure now pits Spain's biggest club against the league's top official.
Background
Javier Tebas is president of La Liga (Spain's top professional football league) and a vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and has clashed repeatedly with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. Real Madrid, holder of a record 36 Spanish league titles and 15 European titles, has long complained that its club television channel highlights refereeing errors it says hurt the team. The dispute escalated after Tebas compared those tactics to the propaganda methods of Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany's propaganda minister; Madrid then called for his resignation. Madrid also repeats its complaint that Tebas has not done enough about the judicial probe into Barcelona's alleged payments to a refereeing-committee official.
How it unfolded
- Sep 20, 2026Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in a heated La Liga derby; Madrid later demanded Tebas step down after he criticized the club for attacking the refereeing crew in that loss.
- Oct 14, 2026Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho gestures during a Champions League match between Roma and Real Madrid in Rome; Mourinho has complained that Madrid is regularly hurt by referees.
- Oct 16, 2026Tebas lashes out at Madrid on social media, comparing its club television channel's tactics to Goebbels' propaganda techniques.
- Oct 16, 2026Real Madrid issues a statement demanding Tebas' immediate resignation as La Liga president and vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Tebas said Madrid's executive has "an orchestra of mouthpieces" whose script is to select plays that favor it, repeat alleged affronts and name enemies, and said the comparison is with the techniques, not the ideology or Madrid fans.
- Party
- Real Madrid said Tebas's conduct shows a lack of neutrality, respect and impartiality incompatible with his role, calling his attacks a "genuine scourge for Spanish football" and demanding his immediate resignation.
Still unverified
Barcelona's alleged payments to an official on the Spanish federation's refereeing committee are the subject of an ongoing judicial probe.