Real Madrid Demands La Liga President's Resignation Over Nazi Comparison
Club calls Javier Tebas's remarks comparing Real Madrid's communication to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels 'deeply offensive' and 'morally repugnant.'
Real Madrid has called for the immediate resignation of La Liga president Javier Tebas, citing remarks in which he compared the club's communication strategies and use of its television channel to propaganda mechanisms employed by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief.
The club stated that Tebas's comments are "deeply offensive" and "morally repugnant." Real Madrid has also demanded that Tebas step down from his roles as president of the Spanish top flight and vice-president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF).
"Real Madrid considers it absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious that someone holding two positions of utmost responsibility in Spanish football resorts to a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime to discredit our club, its management and its television," the club said in a statement.
Tebas had written on X, formerly Twitter, that Real Madrid's management "directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing." He added that the club's method of selecting plays, repeating grievances, feeding suspicion, and pointing fingers at enemies "recalls propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels, Nazi Germany's minister of propaganda: systematic repetition, construction of an enemy, and subordination of facts to the narrative."
Tebas later clarified that he was drawing a comparison with "those propaganda techniques" and "not with an ideology." However, Real Madrid rejected this explanation, stating it did not mitigate the "institutionally unworthy nature of his statements."
The club further asserted that Tebas's remarks represent "yet another episode in the repeated attacks by Javier Tebas against Real Madrid, its president and its media outlets." This is not the first time Tebas has been critical of Real Madrid; he previously criticized the club last month for alleging a refereeing conspiracy against them.
In 2021, Tebas also disagreed with Real Madrid's plans to join a European Super League. In a separate incident in 2025, he commented that Real Madrid had "lost their head" after the club submitted a formal complaint to the Spanish FA regarding officiating in the league.