Real Madrid Hit Out At Tebas, Demand Change In La Liga Leadership

Real Madrid hit out at Tebas, demand change in La Liga leadership (Madrid : West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee during an event organised as part of the Bengal Global Business Summit)

Real Madrid Television: Real Madrid have launched a fresh attack on La Liga president Javier Tebas, describing his repeated criticism of the club as ‘intolerable’ and calling for a change in the leadership of Spanish professional football.

The strong response came after Tebas criticised Real Madrid's handling of the refereeing controversy that followed their 2-1 defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Madrid Derby on Sunday.

The match at the Metropolitano was dominated by contentious refereeing decisions. Real Madrid were unhappy with two first-half incidents involving Atletico's Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in, while their defender Dean Huijsen was later sent off after a VAR review for a foul inside the box.

Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty before Jonathan David doubled Atletico's lead. Antonio Rudiger pulled one back late in the game, but Real could not find an equaliser.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho criticised the officials after the game and showed photographs of the two incidents he believed should have resulted in Atletico players being sent off.

Tebas subsequently defended the need for ethical standards in the way refereeing issues are discussed and criticised Real Madrid Television's coverage of match officials. He said the club's approach amounted to unfair pressure on referees.

Real Madrid have now responded with a strongly worded statement, taking particular exception to Tebas using his position as La Liga president to repeatedly comment on the club.

“Our club finds it intolerable that the president of La Liga uses his institutional position to continue disparaging and attacking Real Madrid in the way he does in every one of his public statements,” the club said.

“It is deeply concerning that someone responsible for representing and protecting the interests of all La Liga clubs remains obsessed with Real Madrid, repeatedly making our club the constant target of his public attacks.”

The Spanish giants also criticised Tebas for commenting on their sporting decisions while responding to an article written by an independent journalist for a digital publication.

“His latest statement is particularly serious and incomprehensible, unbecoming of a responsible executive, because he made it while commenting on an article by an independent journalist in a digital publication,” Real Madrid said.

“However, he then reacted against our club by even daring to evaluate our sporting strategy, which is completely absurd and irresponsible.”

The club further accused Tebas of using his personal channels to repeatedly undermine Real Madrid instead of working to strengthen confidence in the institutions governing Spanish football.

“It is utterly astonishing that the president of La Liga dedicates his time and personal channels to publicly discrediting Real Madrid, instead of using his position to build trust in the institutions responsible for ensuring the impartiality of the competition,” the statement added.

“In doing so, he continues to damage the image of our league and of Spanish football worldwide.”

Real Madrid then questioned whether the current leadership of Spanish professional football was fulfilling its responsibilities.

“Given this inappropriate and prolonged behaviour, we believe that professional football in Spain urgently needs a leader capable of managing it and developing its full potential while upholding the fundamental principle of neutrality,” the club said.

Real Madrid then questioned whether the current leadership of Spanish professional football was fulfilling its responsibilities.

“It needs someone who understands the nature of their role, because the president of LaLiga is not the owner of the competition, but rather a manager serving the clubs that comprise it and entrust its direction to them. The clubs need someone who will serve this mission with integrity,” Madrid said.

Article Source: IANS