Real Madrid called for a new president of La Liga on Tuesday, saying Javier Tebas’ criticism of the club over its complaints about refereeing had become "intolerable.”
The statement came hours after Tebas criticized Real Madrid for its public complaints about the officiating following Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid. The club said Tebas’ comments showed that Spanish football urgently needed a leader committed to neutrality.
"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,” Real Madrid said.
The club also challenged Tebas’ understanding of his role as La Liga president, arguing that he should serve the competition’s clubs rather than act as its owner.
"The clubs need someone who serves this mission with honesty,” Real Madrid said.
Tebas responded on social media, saying he "fully” agreed with one point in Real Madrid’s statement: "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 over various issues related to Spanish and European football.
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 uses alleged refereeing mistakes as a way to hide its deficiencies. Tebas was responding to an article that discussed 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 Tebas’ "latest remarks are 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,” Madrid said. "By doing so, he continues to damage the image of our competition and Spanish football worldwide.”
Real Madrid coach José Mourinho took a piece of paper with photos to the postmatch news conference Sunday, saying there were "two clear red cards” that weren’t shown to Atletico players. The Madrid coach then spent nearly five minutes complaining about "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 posted a message on social media reading, "Stop refereeing harassment now,” accompanied by a video showing an image of Mourinho emerging from a printer.