La Liga president Javier Tebas could face disciplinary action after Spain’s national sports council referred his comparison of Real Madrid’s communication methods to Nazi propaganda to the country’s sports tribunal.
The Spanish National Sports Council (CSD) said on Thursday that it had referred the matter to the Administrative Court for Sport (TAD) to determine whether Tebas committed an offence following comments he made on social media platform X on October 16.
The tribunal will assess whether the remarks could constitute a serious offence under Spain’s 1990 Sports Law, which covers “notorious and public acts that harm sporting dignity or decorum”.
The CSD said it was important to protect the principles that make sport a space for respect, coexistence and fair play.
The controversy followed Tebas’s criticism of Real Madrid’s efforts to challenge the standard of refereeing in Spanish football. The league chief accused the club’s television channel of repeatedly suggesting that referees were acting against Madrid’s interests.
Tebas said the channel’s communication tactics “recall propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels”, referring to Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister.
Real Madrid subsequently called for the 64-year-old league president to resign over the comparison.
Tebas later sought to clarify his remarks, insisting that he was referring to propaganda techniques rather than Nazi ideology.
In a fresh post on X on Thursday, he reiterated that his comments had distinguished between propaganda methods and ideology.
The La Liga chief also questioned why Real Madrid’s accusations against Spanish refereeing did not attract similar scrutiny under the rules governing 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 frequently criticise refereeing decisions through their in-house television channel. Last year, the club described officiating in Spain as “rigged” and “totally discredited”.
The TAD will determine whether Tebas’s remarks warrant disciplinary proceedings under Spanish sports regulations.
AFP