Real Madrid have launched a strong response to LaLiga president Javier Tebas Medrano after his latest comments on the club’s complaints over refereeing, accusing the league’s chief of repeatedly using his position to attack and discredit the Spanish giants.
The statement from Real Madrid comes two days after their 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby, a match that sparked fierce criticism of the officiating from the club and head coach Jose Mourinho.
Real Madrid’s official match report described the refereeing performance as impactful in the defeat, pointing to incidents involving Atletico players Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in that, in the club’s view, should have resulted in red cards.
Mourinho took the complaints further after the match, arriving at his post-match press conference with photographs of the two incidents.
The Portuguese tactician argued that Romero’s challenge on Jude Bellingham and Lee Kang-in’s challenge on Federico Valverde should both have resulted in dismissals.
The Portuguese coach said the match could have been played for around 50 minutes with Atletico reduced to nine players and questioned the decision-making of referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias and the refereeing appointments committee.
The controversy escalated when Tebas responded publicly to the growing criticism.
Writing on social media, the LaLiga president rejected the suggestion that referees were deliberately working against Real Madrid, describing such a belief as “living in another galaxy.” He also argued that complaints about officiating were being used by the club to divert attention from problems on the pitch.
Tebas went further by describing the refereeing controversy as a recurring narrative and questioned the idea that Real Madrid should receive different treatment from other clubs.
He wrote that an error by a referee does not establish a conspiracy and argued that repeatedly making the same claim does not make it true. He also accused those pushing the narrative of using it as a “coartada” to cover other shortcomings.
Real Madrid Respond to Tebas
Those comments prompted Real Madrid to issue an unusually forceful response on Tuesday, with the club questioning Tebas’ conduct and ultimately calling for a change in LaLiga leadership. “Our club considers it intolerable for the LaLiga President to use his institutional position to repeatedly disparage and attack Real Madrid.”
The club argued that Tebas’ role requires him to represent the interests of all LaLiga clubs rather than repeatedly becoming involved in public disputes with one of them.
Real Madrid also took issue with the fact that Tebas had responded to an article written by an independent journalist, arguing that his intervention went beyond commenting on refereeing and extended into criticism of the club’s sporting strategy.
“His latest intervention is particularly serious and incomprehensible—unbecoming of a responsible administrator—as it involves commenting on an article by an independent journalist in a digital media outlet.”
Real Madrid Statement on LaLiga President
The 36-time league champions described Tebas’ decision to publicly comment on their sporting affairs as “inappropriate” and “irresponsible,” insisting that the LaLiga president should instead concentrate on strengthening confidence in the institutions responsible for ensuring the competition is impartial.
The club added that “it is astonishing that the LaLiga President devotes his time and personal channels to publicly discrediting Real Madrid, rather than using his position to foster trust in the institutions charged with guaranteeing the competition’s impartiality.”
Tension Renew Between Real and LaLiga President
The dispute also reflects a much longer-running tension between Real Madrid and Tebas. The LaLiga president has regularly been outspoken on issues involving the club, while Real Madrid and the league have clashed over matters including the governance of LaLiga and audiovisual rights.
In June, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled in Real Madrid’s favour in a case concerning the club’s exclusion from a body overseeing the management of the league’s audiovisual rights.
Real Madrid’s latest statement therefore went beyond the immediate refereeing controversy, arguing that the problem was the way Tebas had used his institutional position.
The club concluded by questioning whether he should continue leading Spanish professional football. “We believe that professional football in Spain urgently needs a leader capable of managing the competition and unlocking its full potential while upholding the fundamental duty of neutrality.”
Real Madrid further stressed that the LaLiga president is not the owner of the competition but an administrator entrusted by the clubs to lead it.
Tebas, who has headed LaLiga since 2013, was re-elected unopposed in December 2023 for a term that runs until 2027.
For now, the dispute has transformed a refereeing controversy from the Madrid derby into another major confrontation between Real Madrid and the LaLiga leadership, with the club making clear that it considers Tebas’ latest intervention to have crossed a line.
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