La Liga president Javier Tebas has hit out at Real Madrid for hosting an NFL game at the Santiago Bernabeu, accusing the club of hypocrisy after leading the protest against Barcelona’s proposed league fixture against Villarreal in Miami. Tebas said Madrid fought the idea 'as a crusade of integrity," yet welcomed the NFL to their iconic stadium.
NFL takes over Bernabeu
The Bernabeu hosted an NFL game on November 16, with the Miami Dolphins taking on the Washington Commanders in front of more than 80,000 fans. According to reports, over $2 million was spent on temporary renovations to adapt the stadium for American football. It was a historic but unusual scene as supporters filled the iconic arena without a sea of white in sight.
However, Los Blancos' historic hosting didn't go down well with Tebas, who heavily criticised the club, posting a long statement on X and highlighting how the Spanish giants had previously led objections to La Liga staging an official league match in Miami earlier this season.
AdvertisementReal Madrid's fierce protest led to cancellation of Miami fixture
The league had planned to host Villarreal vs Barcelona on December 20 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, marking the first-ever La Liga match played in the United States. However, Madrid filed multiple formal complaints to Spain’s Sports Ministry and publicly argued that moving a domestic fixture abroad mid-season would disrupt sporting fairness. Players, including Thibaut Courtois and Frenkie de Jong, also criticised the plan from a player welfare perspective.
The backlash spread across the league. Players staged a coordinated 15-second silent protest at kick-off in every match in October, led by the Spanish players' union (AFE). The match was eventually cancelled in late October after the organiser withdrew due to 'uncertainty in Spain.' It marked the second time a La Liga fixture abroad was blocked after a similar attempt in 2018.
Both Barca and Villarreal were left furious with the cancellation, while Tebas described the decision as 'a defeat for Spanish football’s future' and suggested powerful institutions and clubs opposed progress.
"Today, Spanish football has lost an opportunity to advance, project itself globally, and strengthen its future," he wrote at the time.
AFPTebas hits out at Madrid
La Liga's president took to X to criticise Madrid and accused the club of showing hypocrisy.
"We've been hearing for weeks that today is "a historic day for Spanish sport" because the NFL is playing in Madrid. Front pages, specials, red carpet… fantastic promotion for the NFL in Spain, with a Spanish stadium as the showcase," he wrote.
"And the most striking thing: the stadium belongs to the same club that led the crusade of 'integrity' against LaLiga's official match in Miami… and that now lends it gladly, prior payment of course. Back then they had players and bootlickers repeating the same narrative, with identical expressions of competition adulteration, they sent letters to every possible institution, they only lacked complaining to the Pope, while the European Commissioner for Sport waved the flag of "tradition" and the AFE filled their mouths with "information" and "transparency," when they were perfectly informed about how the match was going to be organised and that the regulations would be respected.
La Liga president claims Madrid's protest was about control, not tradition
Tebas argued that the backlash against the Miami match had little to do with tradition or competitive integrity, but rather with Madrid's desire for power and control.
He continued: "The Miami match had guaranteed full capacity, an agenda of events equal to or greater than these days, and it served to internationalize our competition. We were talking about 1 match out of the 380 that LaLiga plays throughout the season.
"It's clear that back then intoxication and lack of forward-thinking vision won. The problem wasn't integrity, nor tradition, nor information: the problem was who was driving it. It was driven by LaLiga, an institution that everyone wants to control: some so that it doesn't grow and thus have an easier path for their mega competitions, others to "scrape" more money, and others to fuel their political campaigns.
"We'll keep trying."