In a period where the Spanish La Liga and The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) are hardly on positive terms, moments of incendiary political commentary aren’t likely to heal still-open wounds. The controversy over the US-held La Liga game was part of the problem, but many other issues lie under the surface for the fracture.
For fans of the game, though, the recent discussion with La Liga President, Javier Tebas, introduced some introducing insight into his thinking. He gave public backing to far-right Spanish political party, Vox, and threw his weight behind the group. The nationalist party have seen regional victories in recent times, and Tebas admitted on a Spanish radio station, Cadena Cope, that he would back them.
Indeed, in the 1980s Tebas was also part of the Fuerza Nueva party, a fascist group. Asked about his opinion of Vox in 2019, he was clear, saying: “They seem good to me,
“I’ve been saying it for a while. Spain needed an alternative like Vox. You have to respect the 400,000 people that have voted for them in Andalucia. If they stay on this line then I will vote for Vox.
“I’m not a militant but I am a voter. If I work for Spanish football then I work for Spain and the Spanish brand.”
He went even further still, saying: “If extreme right means to defend the unity of Spain, life and the Catholic way of life, I am in that group and I continue to think the same as when I was in Fuerza Nueva,”
The interesting dynamic comes from the growing rise of far-right sentiment in Spain and across Europe. To see such support from one in an office of such an internationally recognized and respected institution as La Liga, though, was a surprise
