Row over Real Madrid escalates dramatically: calls for LaLiga boss to resign over Nazi comparison
Groundhog Day: Real Madrid are once again at odds with LaLiga boss Javier Tebas and are now even calling for his resignation. This follows a rather tasteless comparison.
Tebas took to X to accuse Real Madrid's own broadcaster, Real Madrid TV, and leading club figures of using methods associated with Nazism.
"Real Madrid's leadership directs an orchestra of gatekeepers, and Real Madrid TV is their most prominent representative. Their approach is always the same: they select the passages of play that interest them, repeat the mistakes, sow distrust and create enemies. This method is reminiscent of the propaganda mechanisms used by Goebbels, the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany: systematic repetition, the construction of enemies and the subordination of facts to the narrative," Tebas wrote in response to Real Madrid's conduct after the announcement of Vinicius Junior's four-match suspension.
The Brazilian had lost his composure again in last weekend's 1-0 win over Villarreal, pulling an opponent's hair in the build-up to his disallowed goal and receiving a red card for it. He then went after referee Isidro Diaz, and Antonio Rüdiger had to lead him away. He is also alleged to have shoved a LaLiga employee on his way to the dressing room. Vinicius Jr. subsequently received a two-match ban for his act of violence and another two matches for his behaviour after the red card.
A day later, the Brazilian again portrayed himself as a victim. On Instagram, he posted a photomontage showing eight incidents from different matches in which he felt opponents should have been booked or sent off. "And the one who sees yellow and red is always Vinicius – a disgrace," he complained.
Jose Mourinho again suspects conspiracy against Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior
Coach Jose Mourinho also suspected a conspiracy against Real after the league announced Vinicius's punishment immediately before the Champions League match at AS Roma. "May I ask you a question?" Jose Mourinho said to a reporter at the press conference after the successful comeback at the Olimpico. "Is it normal for a player to find out two hours before a match that he has been suspended for four matches? You don't have to answer me. Is that normal? Couldn't they have announced it just now or tomorrow morning? Did they absolutely have to do it while we were on our way to the stadium?"
Mourinho went further: "Things are done without shame. [...] You want to kill a player two hours before a match. That doesn't seem normal to me. But at this moment it does seem normal to me, because at this moment the cat is out of the bag."
After the 2-1 derby defeat against Atletico in mid-September, Mourinho had brought printed pictures to a press conference and claimed the incidents showed that Atletico should have had two players sent off. Tebas responded to a media report about a "conspiracy" against Real by saying someone would have to "live in another galaxy" to believe it: "It is more convenient to point to a conspiracy than to explain what really happened on the pitch."
Why are Real Madrid constantly at odds with LaLiga boss Tebas?
Real Madrid had called those remarks "unacceptable" in a statement. Tebas's subsequent Goebbels comparison involving the club's media prompted a sharper response. In an official statement, Real now want the league chief to resign.
"Real Madrid consider it absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious that someone who holds two of the most responsible positions in Spanish football should draw a comparison with the propaganda methods of the Nazi regime in order to discredit our club, its leadership and its television channel. The clarification that he is not referring to Nazi ideology does nothing to change the deeply offensive, morally reprehensible and institutionally inappropriate nature of his remarks," the statement said. "Real Madrid therefore call for his immediate resignation as president of LaLiga and vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation."
The club also raised the Negreira case again, accusing Tebas of inaction and saying that was why they had turned to UEFA.
What is the "Negreira case" involving Real Madrid and Barcelona about?
At the centre of the Negreira case are payments of up to seven million euros that Barcelona made over many years to companies linked to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of the Spanish referees' committee. The Spanish judicial authorities are investigating whether Barcelona intended the payments to influence sporting matters. Barcelona deny wrongdoing.
Last year, the dispute with LaLiga over refereeing in Spain escalated. In a strongly worded, four-page letter to the Spanish football federation in early February, Real spoke of "distortion of competition", "manipulation", "fraud" and a system "systematically" corrupt "from within" that needed reform from the ground up.
Following the letter, Tebas accused Real Madrid of a "victim mentality": "Now they have completely lost their minds. This is about discrediting La Liga." LaLiga also filed a complaint against the club from the Spanish capital.
Despite Tebas's tasteless comparison, Real Madrid TV's editorial approach has left it open to criticism in recent years. Some of its coverage has rightly drawn sharp criticism.
A particularly troubling example was its treatment of referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea ahead of the cup final against Barca in April last year. Real Madrid published a video on Real Madrid TV highlighting several contentious decisions he had made against Real in the past. The club's channel also compared Real's win rate in matches refereed by De Burgos Bengoetxea with Barca's, which it calculated was much higher. Real Madrid questioned his suitability for big matches, too.
De Burgos Bengoetxea broke down in tears at the press conference before the final and spoke of the harassment his son had suffered at school because of the coverage.
