La Liga president accuses Real Madrid of being Spain's most rebellious team

Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, again targeted Real Madrid and its president Florentino Pérez, calling them the « most rebellious team in Spain ». During the first national conference on journalism and sport, he denounced the club’s vision of football and expressed his fear of a new Super League in Europe.

Criticism of the football vision

Tebas reproached Real Madrid for its disagreement with the direction taken by the club, notably its support for a Super League project which, in his view, threatens the balance of the championship. « Another Super League is being set up, slowly. If we do not react, we will have a two‑tier football system », he warned.

He reminded that Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are essential to Spanish football, but they cannot move forward without the other clubs. « In this train, there are locomotives, like Real Madrid or Barça, but we also need wagons », Tebas explained.

Defending the current model

The president of La Liga emphasized that the past twenty years have built an exceptional football in Spain, which now needs to be protected. « We have built an exceptional football in 20 years, and we must defend it: we cannot let it slip away », Tebas added.

He also reiterated his commitment to defending the current distribution of television rights, a topic regularly debated in Spain, in order to guarantee the financial viability of all clubs.

By targeting Real Madrid and Florentino Pérez, Tebas seeks to curb the club’s momentum towards projects that, in his view, would marginalise smaller teams and create an imbalance among the biggest European powerhouses.

Tebas’s speech fits into a growing tension between Liga officials and the most powerful clubs, which wish to reshape the European football landscape according to their own interests.