Silver League teams have expressed their dissatisfaction with this measure

Liga MX Sports Committee is considering the option of removing the first and second division in the Mexican professional football for at least 4 years. This initiative would seek to allow enough time for teams of Second Mexican division to meet the requirements that Liga MX requires to ascend.

According to the owners of several major Mexican teams -like Chivas, America, Pachuca, Pumas, Santos Laguna, Tijuana and Veracruz, which are part of the Committee, if the initiative is approved, it would be effective in 2019.

Bancomer MX league said that only five teams in the second division meet the necessary certification to ascend. These clubs are Atletico San Luis, Atlante, Celaya, FC Juarez, and the University of Guadalajara.

However, the Alebrijes de Oaxaca, Atletico Zacatepec, the UAEM Potros, Cafetaleros de Tapachula, Cimarrones de Sonora, Correcaminos de la UAT, Mineros de Zacatecas, Murciélagos FC, Venados FC, and  Tampico Madero, could not ascend. It is important to highlight that Oaxaca team could complete the missing requirements throughout the year.

According to the regulations of the Liga MX Bancomer, If any of these clubs achieve promotion in a sporting way, they would receive 120 million Mexican pesos (2 million dollars) to be able to fulfill the missing requirements and thus ascend in the following season. The team with the worst average descent would deliver this money so that it can stay in the highest category.

However, several teams of the second division have already expressed their disagreement with this decision. Recently, Dorados de Sinaloa and Cimarrones de Sonora, as well as UAEM Potros and Cafetaleros of Tapachula, decided to wait 30 minutes to start the game as a sign of protest.

If it is decided to stop promotions, neither would there be drops from the maximum category.

Requirements to play in the Liga MX

In accordance to regulations, teams must meet minimum requirements to compete in the Liga MX. Among several requests there are: to have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 20,000 spectators, to have optimal lighting conditions in stadiums, to have projects on the theme of "basic forces" from U13 to U20 (lower divisions), and to have second and third division campuses (similar to Argentine football situation).

Among the requirements, it is necessary not to be part of a timeshare, which means to not have ties with teams from the first division. Tampico Madero, being linked with Santos Laguna, won’t be able to ascend. Also, Dorados, owned by Caliente Group, owners of the Xolos de Tijuana, could not ascend. Furthermore, this is also the case of Zapatepec of Morelos, a subsidiary of Grupo Omnilife, owners of Chivas de Guadalajara.

What are the problems of eliminating the divisions?

The requests that Liga MX has for aspiring teams to ascend to first division are understandable and are consistent with the idea of improving the performance of Mexican soccer. Good scenarios, with sufficient capacity (to raise the level of a league that has some of the best players of all America) and obligations for the emergence of new talents are needed for an improvement project.

However, elimination second division has direct consequences on the level of this sport. It is known that when teams are not afraid to be last, there is no motivation to recruit good players and this would be reflected directly on the quality of the show.

Also, teams that spent good money to move up (even many of those who are eligible to play in the top division) would be the most affected. Not to mention the damage to sportsmanship felt by fans of small teams who dream of playing in the top category, or by players who have achieved sporting goals.

For now, there is not a final decision on the elimination of divisions. However, surely, League managers may find a better solution that does not represent many drawbacks.

Latin American Post | Santiago Gómez Hernández
Translated from “Liga MX: ¿desaparecerá el descenso y el ascenso?”