The dispute between La Liga president Javier Tebas and Real Madrid has been referred to Spain’s Sports Administrative Court after the country’s National Sports Council asked it to assess whether remarks by Tebas may constitute a serious breach of sports law.
The Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) announced on Thursday that it had formally submitted the case to the Tribunal Administrativo del Deporte (TAD). Tebas, who is also a vice-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, is being investigated over comments in which he compared Real Madrid’s media communication methods with propaganda techniques used by Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s minister of propaganda.
The controversy began last Friday when Tebas posted a comment on X criticising the club’s approach to communications. In doing so, he referred to Goebbels, one of the most prominent figures associated with propaganda under the Nazi regime.
The comparison prompted widespread criticism and led the CSD to intervene on its own initiative. The council used its legal powers to ask the TAD to determine whether Tebas’s comments showed signs of a serious sporting offence.
According to Catalan newspaper Sport, the CSD’s request is based on Article 76, paragraph four, section “b” of Spain’s Sports Law 10/1990. That provision classifies public and evident actions that undermine sporting dignity or decorum as serious violations.
In its submission, the council cited previous decisions by the TAD, together with rulings from Spain’s Supreme Court. Those decisions link sporting dignity and decorum to the need to preserve a civilised standard of conduct within sport, including mutual respect between people who hold influential positions in the sector.
The CSD stressed that the TAD is independent when exercising its jurisdiction. The referral therefore does not amount to a finding that Tebas has committed an offence, but begins an assessment of whether his statements warrant disciplinary action under Spanish law.
