Real Madrid urges La Liga president to resign after criticizing Nazi propaganda

Real Madrid reacted angrily to the president of La Liga after he compared the management of the club to the German Nazi Party's propaganda methods and called for his resignation.

Real Madrid issued a statement on the 17th (Korean time), saying, "We absolutely cannot tolerate comments made by La Liga President Javier Tebas (64), who compared the management of our club's management to the methods of Josef Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of the Nazi regime in Germany, and pointed to Real Madrid TV (the club's official channel) as a tool for this strategy. This is a very serious problem."

“We believe that Tebas is unfit to continue in the position he currently holds,” he added. “We demand that he step down immediately from his position as president of La Liga and vice-president of the Spanish Football Association.”

President Tebas, who has led La Liga since 2013, ran as a sole candidate in the 2023 election and was re-elected, and his term runs until 2027.

In the meantime, President Tebas and Real Madrid have been in conflict over the way La Liga is run, distribution of broadcasting rights profits, the club's commercial interests and league rights, and recently, the conflict has deepened over the issue of fairness in referee decisions.

When President Tebas criticized Real Madrid's complaints regarding refereeing decisions as a 'smokescreen to hide poor performance on the pitch', the club argued that a new La Liga president was needed.

In this situation, President Tebas posted a message on his social networking service (SNS) before the Real Madrid club issued a statement that day.

In the article, President Tebas claimed that some media outlets were spreading a specific message for Real Madrid management, saying, "Real Madrid management is conducting an orchestra with many mouthpieces playing, and Real Madrid TV is leading the chorus."

Chairman Tebas also wrote, "They are always the same. They pick out scenes that are advantageous to them, repeat complaints, incite suspicion, and point out enemies," adding, "The method reminds me of the propaganda techniques used by Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany."

President Tebas later clarified this analogy, saying, "It is about a propaganda technique, and is not aimed at a specific ideology or the Real Madrid fan base."