Power play in Spain: Galán claims Barça, Madrid and government backed Tebas complaint
CENAFE president Miguel Galán has sparked controversy by claiming he received prior approval from Laporta, Florentino and the Spanish government before filing against LaLiga boss.
The latest chapter in Spanish football’s power struggle has taken a dramatic twist with some proper dodgy revelations about who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes.
The bombshell claim
Miguel Galán, CENAFE president and the man behind a current complaint against LaLiga president Javier Tebas, has publicly claimed he received pre-approval from Barcelona’s Joan Laporta, Real Madrid’s Florentino Pérez, and even the Spanish government before filing his case.
Galán brazenly posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he “wasn’t diving into an empty pool” when making the complaint, suggesting the powerful trio had given him the green light to proceed against Tebas.
What’s the beef about?
The complaint accuses Tebas of breaching confidentiality duties and committing five “very serious” infractions under Spanish sports law. Specifically, it alleges violations of:
- Article 76.2.a of the Sports Law
- Article 5 of LaLiga’s club budget regulations
- Article 59.1B of the Sports Law
’Querellator’ strikes again
Galán, nicknamed ‘Querellator’ for his habit of filing legal complaints, included a screenshot from a 2024 ABC newspaper interview boasting about having previously disqualified the three most recent presidents of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
However, his track record isn’t spotless. Last September, an Administrative Court ruled in favor of Pedro Rocha, overturning a disqualification imposed by the Sports Arbitration Court (TAD) following Galán’s complaint. The court found the TAD’s decision was “contrary to law.”
Conflict of interest concerns
The revelation that Galán allegedly coordinated with Barcelona, Real Madrid and government officials before filing raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Particularly troubling is that the same TAD body that will rule on Tebas’s case is directly attached to the Spanish government - the very entity Galán claims gave prior approval for his complaint.
This has left the whole situation looking proper suspect, with fans wondering if this is just another round in the long-running power struggle between LaLiga and its most powerful clubs.