LaLiga president Tebas faces sports tribunal over Nazi propaganda comparison with Real Madrid

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has been referred to Spain’s sports tribunal by the National Sports Council (CSD) after comparing Real Madrid’s communication strategy to Nazi propaganda in social media posts last Friday.

The CSD made the referral public on Thursday, asking the tribunal to assess whether Tebas’ remarks breached Article 76.4.b of Spain’s Law 10/1990 on Sport — a provision that classifies “notorious and public acts that infringe upon sporting dignity or decorum” as serious infractions. Available sanctions range from warnings and fines to suspension.

Real Madrid responded swiftly, releasing a statement demanding Tebas’ immediate resignation. The club said it was “absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious” that someone in his position would invoke a comparison with the propaganda methods of Nazi regime chief Joseph Goebbels to discredit the club.

“His constant attacks on Real Madrid and those who demand transparency and regeneration constitute, in the opinion of our club, a real scourge for Spanish football,” the statement read.

Tebas, 64, has maintained that his comparison was directed solely at the club’s communication techniques and carried no implication about the ideology of Real Madrid or their supporters. Shortly after the referral became public, he returned to social media to repeat that distinction and to suggest the CSD could equally refer Real Madrid for its own repeated questioning of LaLiga’s integrity.

“Defending the competition also requires responding to those who constantly discredit it,” Tebas wrote. “It’s part of my responsibility. And I’m going to keep exercising it.”

The dispute marks a significant escalation in the long-running tension between Tebas and Real Madrid, whose president Florentino Pérez has been among the most vocal critics of LaLiga’s governance and commercial direction. The tribunal’s ruling, when it comes, will determine whether the league’s own chief faces formal disciplinary consequences for his public remarks about its most prominent club.