Real Madrid demand Tebas to resign after comparing club to Goebbels

Harry Archie October 22, 2026

Spanish soccer powerhouse Real Madrid called for La Liga President Javier Tebas’ resignation after he criticized the club’s efforts to discredit refereeing in Spain.

This comes as Tebas, 64, could face disciplinary action for comparing Madrid’s communication methods with those of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels after Spain’s National Sports Council asked the country’s sports tribunal Thursday to assess whether he had committed an offense.

The council said in a statement it had referred the matter to the country’s Administrative Court for Sport after Tebas made the comparison in an Oct. 16 post on the social media platform X.

The tribunal must determine whether Tebas’ comments could constitute a serious offense under Spain’s 1990 sports law, which includes “notorious and public acts that harm sporting dignity or decorum.”

The council said “it is essential to preserve the values that make sport a space of respect, coexistence, and fair play.”

Tebas had said Real Madrid’s in-house TV channel often suggested that referees attempt to prevent the club from winning.

The outspoken Spanish league chief said these tactics “recall propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels.”

Tebas later attempted to clarify that he was drawing comparisons with “those propaganda techniques” and not with Nazi ideology.

The La Liga chief reiterated Thursday in another X post that his comment had “distinguished between propaganda techniques and ideology.”

Tebas also questioned why Madrid “accusing the refereeing system of corruption” did “not affect sporting dignity and decorum.”

“Does it not harm clubs, referees, and millions of fans?” Tebas wrote. “Or do those values only deserve a public defence when someone responds to such attacks?”

Real Madrid criticizes referees most weeks on its television channel and last year accused officiating in Spain of being “rigged” and “totally discredited.”