Real Madrid demand Tebas removal as La Liga referee row escalates after derby defeat

Real Madrid have formally demanded the removal of La Liga president Javier Tebas, issuing an official statement branding his conduct ‘intolerable’ after he publicly ridiculed the club’s refereeing complaints following Sunday’s 2-1 derby defeat to Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano.

The dispute erupted after Tebas responded to a pro-Real Madrid article by dismissing the club’s grievances as belonging to ‘another galaxy’ and accusing aligned media outlets of ‘building the same old narrative — the permanent conspiracy’. Real Madrid’s statement argued that repeatedly using his institutional position to discredit a member club had become untenable, and that Spanish football ‘urgently needs a leader capable of managing it and realising its full potential with the fundamental duty of neutrality’.

The refereeing flashpoints at the heart of the row centred on two incidents during the derby. Real Madrid were aggrieved that Atlético’s Cristian Romero escaped a red card for a stamp on Jude Bellingham, and also raised a separate challenge by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde. The club’s own match report was headlined ‘Terrible refereeing decides the derby’.

Manager José Mourinho confronted referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias during the defeat and was pointed in his post-match criticism, saying his side could challenge for the title if allowed to compete on a level playing field. Real currently sit six points behind reigning champions and early La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Tebas, for his part, acknowledged Real Madrid’s importance to the competition while pushing back firmly on the substance of their complaints. ‘Real Madrid are crucial to La Liga,’ he said, ‘but the competition belongs to no one.’

Real Madrid’s statement framed the league president as an administrator serving the clubs rather than a proprietor of the competition, a distinction the club clearly feels Tebas has repeatedly failed to observe. The public exchange marks a significant escalation in what has been a long-running tension between the club and La Liga’s governing structure.