Real Madrid demand Tebas resignation after LaLiga chief invokes Nazi propaganda comparison

Real Madrid have formally demanded the immediate resignation of LaLiga president Javier Tebas after he accused the club of employing propaganda methods associated with Nazi minister Joseph Goebbels. The club issued a statement on Friday describing the remarks as “absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious”.

Tebas made the comparison in a post on X, in which he accused journalists of acting as an “official mouthpiece” for Real Madrid and claimed the club’s media operation followed a pattern of “systematic repetition, construction of an enemy, and subordination of facts to the narrative” — techniques he linked to Goebbels. He was careful to clarify that the comparison was with propaganda techniques specifically, “not with an ideology or, of course, with the Madridista fanbase.”

Real Madrid rejected that distinction outright. “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’s statement read.

The club called on Tebas to step down not only from the LaLiga presidency but also from his vice-presidency of the Spanish football federation, the RFEF. “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 continued.

The row has been building throughout the season, with the two parties clashing repeatedly. Friday’s post appears to have been the breaking point for the club, who described Tebas’s conduct as showing “a lack of neutrality, respect and impartiality incompatible with his institutional responsibilities.”

Real also flagged that Tebas referenced the Negreira case in his post, calling it “particularly significant” that the LaLiga chief was focused on discrediting the club rather than pushing for transparency on the matter. The case centres on payments made by Barcelona to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice-president of the Spanish federation’s technical committee of referees. Barcelona maintain the payments were for scouting and technical reports on officials; it has previously been alleged the money was used to bribe referees. Real Madrid have submitted a dossier on the case to UEFA.