Tebas Attacks Real Madrid After Hosting NFL Game: 'The Same Club Only Needed to Complain to the Pope Over Villarreal-Barcelona in Miami!'

Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, intensified his criticism of Real Madrid amidst the significant fanfare surrounding the hosting of an NFL game in Madrid. He asserted that the event exposed a "stark contradiction" between the club's past and present rhetoric.

Tebas stated that the extensive media coverage, special reports, and presence of prominent figures preceding the match constituted a massive promotional campaign for the American league within Spain. He expressed surprise that this occurred at a stadium belonging to a club that had been "the most rigid" in opposing the proposed Villarreal vs. Barcelona match in Miami.

Tebas wrote on his "X" account: "This stadium (the Bernabéu) belongs to the same club that led the 'integrity' battle against holding an official La Liga match in Miami… and now they are happily offering it, of course, for a sum of money. Back then, they forced players and their spokespeople to parrot the same rhetoric, using the same phrases about 'distorting competition,' and sent letters to every possible institution; they only needed to complain to the Pope. Meanwhile, the European Commissioner for Sport waved the banner of 'tradition,' and the players' association repeated grand statements about 'transparency' and 'information,' even though they knew very well how the match would be organized and that all laws were respected."

He added: "The Miami match (Villarreal vs. Barcelona) was guaranteed full attendance, and its event program was similar, perhaps even larger, than what we see these days. It would have contributed to internationalizing our competition. We were talking about just one match out of 380 played in a La Liga season."

He concluded: "It is clear that misinformation triumphed at that time, and future vision was completely absent. The problem was not integrity, nor tradition, nor information: the problem was the entity behind the initiative. The initiative came from La Liga, an institution that everyone wants to control: some so it doesn't grow and become a competitor to their 'giant' tournaments, others to gain more money, and still others to exploit it for their political campaigns."