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New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Mexico's promotion, relegation battle: Clubs in suit allege federation retaliation
The attorneys for the second-division Mexican clubs that filed a claim in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last week against the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and Liga MX remain committed to their fight to re-incorporate promotion and relegation next season, despite one Liga Expansión club dropping out of the battle. Advertisement Club Atlante, perhaps the most recognized Liga Expansión team along with Club Morelia, removed itself from the appeal process on Monday. That same day, Liga MX held its annual owners meeting in which the CAS claim was expected to be discussed. Several theories about Atlante's sudden retreat have added a new twist to what is expected to be a contentious litigation process. Complicating matters, despite the Liga Expansión clubs demanding that pro/rel be reinstated next season, FMF has since insisted the mechanism has remained attainable – via a series of criteria – ever since the federation technically halted the process during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorney Eduardo Carlezzo, whose firm is representing the nine Liga Expansión clubs, also claims that FMF has responded to the suit by retaliating against those involved. 'The clubs are exhausted; they have reached the end of the tunnel,' Carlezzo told The Athletic in a statement on Wednesday. 'Mexican football urgently needs renovation to restore credibility, and last week's actions by the federation show exactly how they have behaved over the years. As soon as we submitted an appeal to CAS, the FMF withheld a monthly payment due to the clubs since 2020 as compensation for being unable to be promoted. This is pure revenge! These are significant sums that will impact some clubs' finances. We are now analyzing all legal actions available to us to fight against these threats.' On Wednesday, a separate statement reviewed by The Athletic cited conflicts of interest and a 'legal simulation' by the FMF and Liga MX officials, in addition to several chief concerns about the future of promotion and relegation in Mexico. Those concerns include the influence of multi-club ownership in Mexico and a tendency among Liga MX officials to favor a permanently closed system, similar to MLS. When pro/rel was paused in Mexico due to the pandemic, the FMF created a fund that would help Liga Expansión clubs financially. Advertisement 'The FMF General Assembly approved this temporary suspension to protect the economic stability of the clubs,' FMF's secretary general Íñigo Riestra said in response to the CAS claim. On May 21, the FMF said on its official X account that, 'Promotion remains active through certification. A club will be promoted once at least four clubs are certified at the start of the season and one of them wins the (Liga Expansión) Campeón de Campeones' match. The requirements that second-division clubs were expected to meet include sporting, infrastructure and administrative improvements that FMF would then review before granting promotion to Liga MX. That certification process is ambiguous, though, per the attorneys representing the nine Liga Expansión clubs. Coincidentally, Atlante's Estadio Ciudad de Deportes, which does not currently meet the federation's first-division requirements, was used as the home field for Club América during last week's Liga MX final vs. Toluca. América's home stadium, Estadio Azteca, is currently under renovation. 'The 'certification for promotion' argued by the FMF is nothing more than a legal simulation to disguise the fact that there is no real commitment to return promotion and relegation,' the statement reads in part. 'And it scares us that the FMF's Secretary General (Iñigo Riestra) comes out to defend a phantom procedure that has not even been applied this year.' Riestra countered last week by saying that 'half-truths' had been told and that it was important for the federation to tell its side of the story. 'The competition was suspended during the 2019-2020 season but it wasn't because of this agreement (with Liga Expansión), but rather because of the effects of the pandemic,' Riestra said in a video statement. 'It was the Liga Expansión clubs who requested financial support in order to avoid bankruptcy. … That's why on April 20 of 2020 the federation's general assembly authorized the temporary suspension of promotion and relegation for six seasons.' Advertisement The attorneys for the second-division clubs cite 'a concentration of power' within the hierarchy of the FMF and Liga MX that prevents those clubs from having any real influence over their futures. Liga MX president Mikel Arriola is also a presiding commissioner and executive president of the FMF. Arriola is also the current president of Liga Expansión. Riestra's brother José, is the former president of Club Atlas, which is owned by Grupo Orlegi, an organization that also owns Liga MX side Santos Laguna. José Riestra is now the head of football of Orlegi Sports, a division of Grupo Orlegi, and one of four multi-club ownership groups in Mexico. That, the nine clubs argue, is 'a conflict of interest that no one seems to question.' 'Multi-ownership is allowed despite being expressly prohibited by Article 5 of its bylaws,' Wednesday's statement reads. 'The FMF statute grants Liga MX the power to define the president of Liga Expansión. Additionally, we do not have the capacity to influence decisions in Mexican Football (when we have) barely 5 percent of votes in the General Assembly.' The original CAS claim that was filed on May 19 also cited the ongoing debate in Mexico regarding multi-club ownership and its impact on Mexican football. 'The concentration of eight first-division clubs in the hands of four ownership groups represents a significant distortion to the Mexican football ecosystem,' reads the claim. It goes on to allege that multi-owned clubs can be 'incentivized to act in a coordinated manner' to benefit the groups that they represent. This, the claim says, is 'a detriment to fair competition.' Carlezzo said that the Liga Expansión teams have until Thursday to present their arguments to CAS with the required substantiation. FMF will then be notified by CAS and an official hearing could be scheduled within two to three months.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🚨Breaking news: FMF responds, insists promotion is still in place
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. The Mexican Football Federation has already made its stance known after denying an appeal against it before the TAS by 10 clubs in the Expansion League in favor of the return of promotion and relegation. Advertisement Through an infographic, the FMF assures the existence of promotion in Mexican football, through a certification process that so far, no team has fully met. "It is in effect via certification. A club will be promoted when there are at least four certified teams at the start of the season and one becomes Champion of Champions," it specifies. For his part, Íñigo Riestra, Secretary General and Legal Director of the FMF, appeared before the cameras to "tell his version," because "half-truths have been told": What they haven't mentioned is that a fund for improvements was also authorized, with significant sums of money to support all these clubs, with the sole intention that they could focus on making infrastructure investments and strategy for the growth of their League. Large amounts of money have been delivered to the expansion clubs and that's not being told," he pointed out 📸 Hector Vivas - 2022 Getty Images
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Mexican second-tier clubs file suit vs. Liga MX, FMF to resume promotion, relegation
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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.' Advertisement 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.' Advertisement 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.
