Tebas escalates war on Madrid after Bernabeu banner: "Real's board are used to lying"
New exchange of war
Javier Tebas has renewed his attack on Real Madrid after the protests at the Santiago Bernabeu during Sunday's clash with Sevilla, the Spanish league president arguing that the banner raised by the club's fans backs up his accusations about the communication methods adopted by the Madrid board.
The league chief wants answers. Tebas called on the Real Madrid board to clarify a number of contentious issues, with the public confrontation between the two sides widening amid exchanged statements and fan protests.
Previous remarks that sparked a new confrontation
"It took two days for the facts to prove what I said was correct", Tebas wrote on his social media accounts, referring to earlier remarks that ignited the row with the Real Madrid board. He had described the journalist Tomas Gonzalez Martin as "the official spokesman for the COZ" of the club's leadership.
He went further, likening the communication methods used by Real Madrid's channel to the propaganda mechanisms employed by Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister in Nazi Germany. Tebas later clarified that his comments referred to communication techniques, not to ideology or to the club's fans.
Real Madrid hit back with a statement demanding Tebas resign immediately from the presidency of the Spanish league. His remarks were "intolerable", the club argued, and reflected a lack of the impartiality required by his institutional responsibilities.
Bernabeu banner widens the confrontation
The stands joined in. Real Madrid fans raised a banner during the Sevilla match reading "It's not football, it's Tebas and Negreira", the two names picked out in Barcelona's colours.
Angry chants against the league president rang round the Bernabeu too, alongside chants aimed at the Spanish federation and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
Would the Real Madrid board also dismiss these protests as the views of fans who do not officially represent the club? Tebas posed the question in reference to a previous statement from the board disowning the opinions of journalists who do not work for it.
What happened at the Bernabeu, Tebas argued, shows the club's ability to direct the anger of its fans towards specific individuals. He also recalled a threat he said he had received earlier, attributing these words to the other party: "I will turn all Real Madrid supporters against you and you will not be able to go out into the street".
For Tebas, these incidents form part of a campaign of personal accusations and intimidation.
Demands to disclose requests to reschedule matches
His escalation went further still. Tebas called on the Real Madrid board to disclose every request it has submitted to change match kick-off times, clarify how many were approved and reveal whether they were linked to other events held at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"If you have acted in good faith, then deny the lie, explain the truth, and present all the data", Tebas wrote.
He signed off with a direct accusation: "The Real Madrid board has settled on manipulation and lies", adding that with each passing day what condemns the club is revealed, in his words, ever more clearly.
