Florentino also targets Juanma Castaño after comparison with Realmadrid TV

Florentino has also taken aim at journalist Juanma Castaño. On Tuesday, Real Madrid released a statement strongly condemning the journalist’s remarks after he compared Realmadrid TV with the newspaper Gara in an article published that day in ABC.

The club described the comparison as “absolutely deplorable and unacceptable”. In his column, entitled “Real Madrid, at war”, Juanma Castaño wrote that “on the official television channel, which is the Gara newspaper of ultra-Florentinismo, they are calling for the abandonment of national competitions”.

For Real Madrid, comparing its official media outlet with a newspaper “whose history is linked to the world of the ETA terrorist group” is “an extremely serious exercise that crosses every line”. The statement says Realmadrid TV legitimately exercises its right to inform and defend the interests of the club, its members and its supporters. It describes it as the official media outlet of “a club with 124 years of history that represents the sensibilities and values of millions of supporters around the world”.

The club ends by saying it reserves the right to take whatever measures it considers appropriate in response to an attack it views as wholly unacceptable. It reiterates that the journalist’s parallel is “absolutely deplorable and unacceptable” and raises the prospect of taking action. The material linked to this position also includes the heading: “Strong Real Madrid statement against Tebas: ‘It is intolerable’.”

Juanma Castaño’s column addressed the reaction among Madrid supporters after the derby played at the Metropolitano. The journalist acknowledged that “the two most controversial incidents of the derby are clear reds” and that the club has “every right to express its anger at the referee, VAR and the CTA”. However, he argued that focusing on refereeing as the source of “the problems of this club” meant being blind to “something that goes back a long way”.