R
eal Madrid have demanded the “immediate resignation” of La Liga president, Javier Tebas after he likened the approach of the club’s management to that of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis’ infamous propaganda chief.
In a lengthy statement, Madrid described Tebas’ remarks as “deeply offensive” and “morally repugnant”. Madrid said they disqualified him from continuing to hold his positions as head of the Spanish top flight and vice-president of the Spanish FA and called on him to step down from both roles.
“Javier Tebas’ repeated conduct demonstrates a lack of neutrality, respect, and impartiality incompatible with his institutional responsibilities,” read Madrid’s statement. “His constant attacks on Real Madrid and those who demand transparency and reform constitute, in our club’s opinion, a true scourge for Spanish football.”
Yesterday, in a lengthy post on social media site X, Tebas compared the communication strategy of Madrid’s management and in-house TV channel to that used by Goebbels, who was the minister for propaganda in Nazi Germany.
“Real Madrid’s management directs an orchestra of mouthpieces and Real Madrid TV leads the singing,” Tebas wrote.
“Their score is always the same: select the plays that suit them, repeat the grievance, feed the suspicion, and point fingers at the enemies.
“That method recalls propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s minister of propaganda: systematic repetition, construction of an enemy, and subordination of facts to the narrative.”
Tebas added that he was drawing comparison with “those propaganda techniques” and “not with an ideology”.