Mexican second-tier clubs file suit vs. Liga MX, FMF to resume promotion, relegation

New York Times

20-05-2025

Lawyers representing 10 second-division clubs in Mexico filed a claim on Monday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against Liga MX and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF). According to a court document that was reviewed by The Athletic, the 10 clubs from Mexico's Liga Expansión have demanded the return of promotion and relegation for the 2025-2026 season.
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Mexico paused promotion and relegation amid the COVID-19 pandemic for six seasons. The court filing alleges that Liga MX and FMF officials have not formally committed to reinstating promotion and relegation as the six-year pause comes to end on June 7, which is the final day of the Liga Expansión season.
The claim states that on March 24, representatives from CF Atlante, Club Atlético La Paz, Cancún FC, Club Atlético Morelia, Cimarrones de Sonora FC, Oaxaca FC, CD Zacatecas, Venados FC, Club Deportivo Leones Negros and Club Jaiba Bravia formally requested that FMF and Liga MX reinstate promotion and relegation. (Cimarrones de Sonora FC will return to Liga Expansión next season after taking a year-long hiatus due to financial issues at the club.)
The claim reads in part: 'Due to the total silence on behalf of the FMF, and considering the fact that there are only a few months left before the start of the new season … the appellant clubs highlighted the urgency of obtaining an answer in order to plan investments, infrastructure (projects), (player) acquisitions and broadcast rights negotiations for the upcoming season.
'It is essential to request that the FMF begins to process all legal documents and secondary norms that are necessary to facilitate the return of the previous promotion and relegation system.'
A second request was made by the clubs on April 7 that reiterated the above. Both requests went unanswered, according to the filed claim. On April 29, per the claim, FMF presented their position on promotion and relegation but did not commit to the original timetable, which would formalize the return of pro-rel next season.
The claim states that FMF instead believes that the six-year pause began in 2020-2021, and not the year prior as had been approved by the FMF's general assembly. In other words, FMF considers 2026-2027 as the appropriate season to reconsider promotion and relegation in Mexican football.
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An FMF spokesperson told The Athletic on Tuesday that promotion and relegation 'should be back in 2026-2027,' but that no decisions had been formalized. An owners meeting is set for May 26 in which the topic could be discussed. A representative from Liga MX also mentioned the possibility of promotion and relegation being part of the May 26 owners meeting.
The aforementioned second-division clubs are represented by attorney Eduardo Carlezzo and his firm Carlezzo Advogados.
'The clubs are fighting to improve the system as a whole and to provide basic rights for all clubs across the country,' Carlezzo wrote in a statement to The Athletic. 'It is absurd and nonsensical to oppose the return of promotion and relegation to Mexican football. Only one club would be promoted and one relegated. In Brazil, for example, four clubs are promoted and relegated every year. In Spain, Italy, France and England, three clubs (are relegated).'
(As a matter of clarification, France instituted a relegation playoff between the 16th-place Ligue 1 team and a Ligue 2 playoff winner after the league downsized to 18 teams for the 2023-2024 season.)
Carlezzo represented the Chilean Football Federation in 2022 during a highly-publicized case that sought to expel Ecuador from the 2022 men's World Cup. The Chilean FA alleged that Ecuador fullback Byron Castillo was not eligible to play for the Ecuador national team, and that Ecuador, which at the time was already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, should have to forfeit eight qualifying matches in which Castillo played. Chile argued that their national team should have replaced Ecuador at the tournament.
CAS ultimately ruled that Castillo was an Ecuadorean national and Ecuador kept its World Cup berth. Still, Ecuador was given a three-point deduction when qualification for the 2026 World Cup began and was fined $101,605.36 for what CAS said was the 'use of a document containing false information.'
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The court filing against FMF and Liga MX also cites several prominent Mexican football officials who have publicly stated their preference for a closed system, thus seemingly ruling out the return of promotion and relegation in Liga MX.
That, the claim says, violates an established FMF statute that 'recognizes the automatic right to promotion for Liga Expansión MX clubs, and the corresponding obligation to Liga MX to relegation.'
A move to a closed system, like MLS, would prevent Liga Expansión teams from the financial benefits that come with the promotion to first-division football.
'Even though Mexico has a history with promotion and relegation, we're thinking about future U.S. investment in Mexican football,' Miguel Angel Gil said in April at the 2025 LATAM Sports Summit Mexico. Gil is the CEO of Atlético Madrid. Mexican club Atlético San Luis is an affiliate of the Spanish side.
'I would respect the majority, but if we view Mexico as being closely linked to the U.S. in terms of branding and investments, it makes sense to remove relegation,' Gil continued. 'From a selfish point of view, I'm very happy that there is no relegation, and if I have to vote, I'd vote in that direction.'
Pachuca president Armando Martinez was more blunt. 'Honestly, I don't see how Liga Expansión teams will be able to build a competitive team and the infrastructure that's needed to compete in the first division,' Martinez told ESPN in August of last year.
An executive from one of the Liga Expansión teams involved in the claim, who spoke to The Athletic on Monday, requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about the reasons behind the filing.
'In Mexican football there are monopolistic practices and corruption where several (clubs) get together and vote against a free market, established guidelines, statutes and agreements,' the executive told The Athletic. 'We have to clean up football and work together. We began to realize that there were people who were not going to keep their word and that's when we began this process.'
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CAS has been involved of late in another significant appeal related to Mexican football. In May, CAS rejected Club León's appeal to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. León is managed by Grupo Pachuca which owns another Mexican side CF Pachuca. CAS ruled that it did not meet the competition's regulations concerning multi-club ownership.