Real Madrid calls for a new Spanish league president after criticizing Tebas’ refereeing remarks

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid called for a new Spanish league president on Tuesday, arguing that Javier Tebas’ comments against the club regarding refereeing complaints were “intolerable.”

Madrid released a statement hours after Tebas criticized the club for attacking the refereeing crew in the team’s 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid on Sunday. It said that “given this inappropriate behavior,” Spanish soccer “urgently needs a leader capable of managing it and developing its full potential with the fundamental duty of neutrality.”

“It needs someone who understands the nature of their role, as the president of La Liga is not the owner of the competition but a manager serving the clubs that comprise it and entrust him with its direction,” Real Madrid said. “The clubs need someone who serves this mission with honesty.”

Tebas responded to Madrid’s statement saying he “fully” agreed with one thing: “The president of La Liga is not the owner of the competition. Neither is the president of Real Madrid.”

“I am neither the owner of La Liga nor will I manage it as if it belonged to a single club,” Tebas said on social media. “I respect everyone. I am beholden to no one.”

Madrid and Tebas have often traded barbs on various issues related to Spanish and European soccer.

Madrid said Tuesday it does not accept Tebas’ use of “his institutional position to continue discrediting and attacking Real Madrid.”

“It is also very concerning that someone who is responsible for representing and protecting the interests of all La Liga clubs is repeatedly obsessed with targeting Real Madrid, turning our club into a constant subject of his public attacks,” it said.

Tebas said on X that Madrid is always finding an excuse to complain, and that it uses the alleged referees’ mistake as a way to hide its deficiencies. Tebas was responding to an article that talked about an alleged conspiracy against Madrid.

“To claim that referees are targeting Real Madrid is to live in another galaxy,” Tebas said. “That narrative serves as a smokescreen to mask other shortcomings that are glaringly obvious in these opening matches of the season.”

The defeat to Atletico left Real Madrid in fourth place after seven league rounds, six points behind leader Barcelona.

Madrid said that Tebas’ “latest remarks are particularly serious and incomprehensible, unbecoming of a responsible manager.”

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“It is utterly surprising that the president of La Liga dedicates his time and personal platforms to constantly trying to publicly discredit Real Madrid, instead of contributing, from the responsibility of his position, to fostering trust in the institutions that must ensure the impartiality of the competition,” Madrid said. “By doing so, he continues to damage the image of our competition and Spanish soccer worldwide.”

Real Madrid coach José Mourinho took a piece of paper with photos to the post-match news conference on Sunday, saying there were “two clear red cards” that weren’t shown to Atletico players. The Madrid coach then spent nearly five minutes complaining of “strange” things that have happened to his team this season and in the past.

Atletico on Monday called for an end to “refereeing harassment.” It went to social media with a message reading “stop refereeing harassment now,” accompanied by a video showing an image of Mourinho emerging from a printer.

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here