Tebas hits back at CSD: "Freedom of speech cannot depend on your surname"

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has hit back at reports that Spain's High Sports Council could open proceedings against him over his recent remarks about Real Madrid's communication methods. In a message posted on his social media channels, the football chief defends the exact meaning of his words, questions the consistency of the standards applied in such cases and recalls statements made by Florentino Pérez about refereeing in May 2026.

• Tebas insists his Goebbels comparison referred to propaganda techniques, not an ideology or Real Madrid fans.
• The LaLiga president recalls that Florentino Pérez claimed in May 2026 that several league titles had been "stolen" from him.
• Tebas asks the CSD to read his full statement and review the precedents before taking action.
• He is demanding institutional consistency in how both sets of remarks are assessed.

Tebas responds to possible CSD action

Tebas has voiced disbelief at the possibility of the body chaired by José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes taking action over his words. "I cannot believe the news that the CSD is considering acting ex officio over my remarks. If confirmed, I hope that review starts by reading what I actually wrote and by examining some precedents," he posted on his personal account.

The head of Spain's professional football league stresses that his message included an explicit boundary around the scope of the comparison. In his view, his words can be disputed, even fiercely, but the clarification he included cannot simply be removed in order to attribute to him an ideological comparison that, he argues, he never made.

These were my words: "That method is reminiscent of propaganda mechanisms exploited by Goebbels, Propaganda Minister of Nazi Germany: systematic repetition, construction of an enemy and subordination of facts to narrative. The comparison is with those propaganda techniques, not with an ideology nor, of course, with Real Madrid supporters."

What Florentino Pérez said about refereeing

Tebas has turned to the archives to put his position in context. Specifically, he has gone back to 12 May 2026, when Florentino Pérez announced Real Madrid's election process and made comments that, in the view of the LaLiga president, should have drawn greater attention from the bodies responsible for protecting the integrity of the competition.

"I could have won 14 league titles, but the others were stolen from me." He added, when speaking about Negreira: "they are still the same referees."

The league chief underlines that those comments are published on Real Madrid's own website and require no anonymous sources. For Tebas, attributing championship outcomes to theft and casting suspicion over current referees is a serious matter that should have triggered the mechanisms designed to protect the tournament's reputation.

The shelving of the Florentino Pérez case that Tebas denounces

The LaLiga president has also recalled the federation track record of the Real Madrid chief's words. As he has explained, referees filed a complaint over the remarks, but on 21 September the newspaper AS reported that the case instructor was proposing to close the file on freedom of expression grounds.

That precedent is central to the consistency claim Tebas is raising. If saying your league titles were stolen is protected by freedom of expression, the argument goes, then criticising propaganda methods — with the explicit clarification that no ideology was being compared and no fanbase targeted — should not justify an ex officio intervention by the CSD.

The demand for institutional consistency

Tebas accepts that the legal routes and responsibilities may differ from case to case, but he considers institutional consistency non-negotiable. That is why he is demanding that his full statement be read, that the criteria used be explained, and that they be applied regardless of who is speaking.

The closing line of his message sums up his stance: "Freedom of speech cannot depend on the surname of the person speaking." With that phrase, the LaLiga president places the focus on the equal treatment he believes every actor in Spanish football should receive, regardless of their name or the club they represent.

Frequently asked questions about the Tebas-CSD row