Real Madrid has called for a change in leadership at the top of Spanish football, releasing a statement hours after La Liga president Javier Tebas criticized the club for attacking the refereeing crew following its 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
The club said that "given this inappropriate behavior," Spanish football "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."
Madrid and Tebas have often traded barbs on various issues related to Spanish and European soccer, and this latest dispute follows that familiar pattern. On Tuesday, the club said 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," the statement said.
Tebas Fires Back
Tebas responded on X, saying Madrid is always finding an excuse to complain and that it uses alleged referee mistakes to hide its own deficiencies. He was reacting to an article suggesting a conspiracy against the club.
"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 described Tebas' comments as "particularly serious and incomprehensible, unbecoming of a responsible manager."
"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," the club said. "By doing so, he continues to damage the image of our competition and Spanish soccer worldwide."
Mourinho's Complaints and Atletico's Response
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho brought a piece of paper with photos to his post-match news conference on Sunday, claiming there were "two clear red cards" that weren't shown to Atletico players. He then spent nearly five minutes complaining about "strange" things that have happened to his team this season and in the past.
Atletico Madrid responded on Monday by calling for an end to "refereeing harassment." The club posted a message on social media reading "stop refereeing harassment now," accompanied by a video showing an image of Mourinho emerging from a printer.
