Another chapter in the clashes between Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, and Real Madrid.
This time, it all stems from two articles in 'El Debate', which detailed Real Madrid TV's complaints about the team's kick-off times.
They also published another article in which Real Madrid lumped Barcelona, the RFEF and La Liga together over the Negreira case.
In response, Tebas compared what he sees as Real Madrid's media strategy to the propaganda methods used by Goebbels, Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda. He put it this way: "That method recalls the propaganda techniques employed by Goebbels, Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda: systematic repetition, the construction of an enemy and the subordination of facts to the narrative. The comparison is with those propaganda techniques, not with an ideology or, of course, with Real Madrid's fans."
Here is what Javier Tebas posted on social media...
Tebas's words
📸 Arnold Jerocki - 2024 Getty Images
"Tomás Gonzalez Martin and Jesus Urdiola, every day it gets harder to distinguish your articles from a statement issued by Real Madrid's management. Tomás, you in particular have become their official attack-mouthpiece, to the point of using the exact same expressions I have heard from a senior executive at Valdebebas. Plenty of references to 'club sources', but very little distance from the line those sources want to push. You're like a parrot, but with a keyboard.
And so nobody gets the people involved mixed up: that senior executive whose expressions you reproduce is NOT the same person who calls media newsrooms demanding journalists be fired and pressures companies to remove executives. They are different people. And those calls and that pressure are not a thing of the past. They are happening now. Very much now. He won't be calling the newsroom at @eldebate_com, unless it's to... Real Madrid's management conducts an orchestra of attack-mouthpieces, with Real Madrid TV taking the lead. Their score is always the same: pick the incidents that suit them, repeat the grievance, fuel suspicion and identify enemies.
That method recalls the propaganda techniques employed by Goebbels, Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda: systematic repetition, the construction of an enemy and the subordination of facts to the narrative. The comparison is with those propaganda techniques, not with an ideology or, of course, with Real Madrid's fans. Real Madrid TV is a central part of that machinery. Where is the full analysis of every match in each round? Where are the potential mistakes that hurt other clubs or benefit Real Madrid? If they applied the same scrutiny to every match, the outcome might spoil their script. But the script demands that Real Madrid always appear as the victim.
And that leads to the extreme of presenting even a NON-ERROR as an error and using the Negreira case as a permanent explanation for any decision they dislike. Suspicion is treated as proven fact, and the conclusion is written before the match begins. That same technique is now being applied to kick-off times: they tell you what feeds the grievance and hide the context that would allow it to be checked. So let's talk about scheduling, Tomás. Let that senior executive who feeds the attack-mouthpieces explain how many requests Real Madrid has submitted to change match times and dates, and how many have been granted. (On this issue, they top the table.) Include the accepted requests too. Don't just mention the one that suits him to manufacture the latest controversy. And include the requests relating to the fixture calendar to accommodate the events that the "super licence" allows them to stage at the Santiago Bernabéu. Because when it comes to asking for the competition to be adjusted to their needs, they show plenty of initiative; when it comes to acknowledging the requests that have been granted, their memory is rather less impressive.
That is the full picture that needs to be published: what Real Madrid asked for, what they were granted and what could not be accommodated, with the reasons why. Kick-off times also affect their opponents, other clubs, fans and the competition's broadcasting commitments. A request does not become a right just because it comes from Real Madrid, nor does a refusal prove persecution. LaLiga defends its competition. What is not credible is asking for changes to match dates, kick-off times and the fixture calendar, then presenting every disagreement as proof that LaLiga is harming the club. If you want to discuss the treatment you have received, tell people about ALL of it. Tomás, there are some specific questions for your sources. And Real Madrid TV has material for a programme: the club's requests and the responses it has received. Let's see whether they show the same enthusiasm for that record as they do for their grievance videos. Then the other attack-mouthpieces amplify the message. Real Madrid TV supplies the footage, others supply the headlines, and they all repeat the same accusation."
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.