LaLiga hasn’t even started and Real Madrid already accuses Barcelona of favoritism
Real Madrid has used its official television channel to protest the league’s refusal to delay their LaLiga debut beyond Tuesday, August 19.
The club argues that their participation in the Club World Cup—where they reached the semifinals—left them with significantly less rest and preparation time compared to their main rivals following the end of last season.
The televised protest was based on a statement by legal expert Miguel García Caba, a member of Spain’s Commission on Integrity and Anti-Corruption in Sport and Transparency International. While the statement didn’t directly name Barcelona, it strongly suggested favoritism toward the Catalan club.
“Urgency ignored and common sense buried”
García Caba’s written complaint stated: “This wasn’t a decision; it was a slam of the door. A slam in the face of sports medicine, basic logic, and competition integrity. This is not independence—it’s manipulation. The 2025–26 LaLiga season begins tainted, distorted, manipulated. One team starts at a clear physical and tactical disadvantage—not by chance, but by design.”
The protest was sparked by the Spanish Football Federation’s Competition Judge denying Real Madrid’s request to postpone their opening match against Osasuna.
He continued: “Is it integrity to force a fatigued team to compete while others have weeks to prepare? Applying the rules as a hammer for some and a red carpet for others is not integrity—it’s control. It changes outcomes. A point dropped in August is the same as a point dropped in May. This isn’t a blow to one match, it’s a blow to the entire season.”
Real Madrid TV echoes concerns
Real Madrid TV endorsed García Caba’s statement point by point, claiming the club was being placed at a disadvantage compared to key LaLiga rivals like Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. While Atlético also played in the Club World Cup, they were eliminated in the group stage and had the entire month of July to recover and prepare for the new season.
Tebas fires back
LaLiga president Javier Tebas quickly fired back via social media, offering a blunt rebuttal to both García Caba and Real Madrid. “This isn’t about your personal interpretation of integrity,” Tebas wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “If it were, you’d be concerned that Chelsea, also a Club World Cup finalist, finished later than Real Madrid and still starts two days earlier in the Premier League. In France, PSG and other finalists start the season without anyone demanding changes to the rules.”
He continued: “Miguel, your ‘article’—if we can even call it that—has as much legal substance as I have love for curling. You say: ‘They hide behind the rulebook. Always the rulebook. But we all know it’s bent when convenient. This time it wasn’t.’ Are you suggesting that during your time as the supposed top legal authority at the Spanish FA, the rules were bent at will? Is that what you stood for? Or are you implying that the Competition Judge should commit misconduct by interpreting the rules to please your so-called ‘Supreme Being’?”