It’s been four years since Liga MX opted to temporarily suspend its system of promotion and relegation as a response to the worldwide pandemic. The measure has since been extended, however, and club presidents are showing no signs of lifting it anytime soon. And although some players in the second tier of professional soccer — then called Ascenso MX — publicly protested the move, few of their complaints caused ripples outside of social media.
Mexican club soccer’s new normal in regard to promotion and relegation is one of the topics broached in ESPN’s survey of 22 players — a sample size equal to a full roster — spread out over 12 Liga MX clubs. The six yes-or-no questions presented to the players ranged from the league’s adoption of a play-in postseason tournament, the number of players without Mexican ties on a roster and a minimum salary in women’s pro soccer. Players were then asked to expound on their yes/no responses.
Survey participants were granted anonymity in an effort to foster frankness in their responses. For its part, the Mexican Football Federation received the survey results from ESPN but declined to comment on their answers.
In 2020, Liga MX decided to eliminate its system of promotion and relegation for a period of five years. As a result, Ascenso MX became the developmental Liga de Expansión. Liga MX argued that the decision was taken to help clubs dealing with financial difficulty brought on of COVID-19.
“Many of the current budgets are very close to financial collapse and at risk of vanishing because of a lack of new resources and the need to cover annual deficits of about 25 million pesos (about $1.1 million in 2020) per club, on average,” then-Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla said.
Liga MX hoped that second-tier clubs who aspired to promotion would first recover financially and boost their budgets during this window. Liga de Expansión clubs would also need to be certified as meeting certain standard before promotion, but only Atlante has achieved certification to date.
Meanwhile, relegation remains frozen in Liga MX.
The majority of players surveyed are in favor of bringing back promotion and relegation, believing it encourages competition.
“If not, you don’t have anything to shoot for in the Liga de Expansión aside from a title, if there isn’t promotion such as it was,” one player said. “And the teams in the top division that are in last place, they just pay a fee to stay there. So, I feel there’s no sense of competition like there was before.”
Another player agreed that promotion and relegation foster competitiveness in the top tier: “You’re not only playing for the goal of becoming a champion but also not to be sent down. It builds character in a lot of players. It’s harder to play to not be relegated than to become champions.”
Per current Liga MX bylaws, the three teams at the bottom of the quotient table pay fees ranging from $1.7 million to $4.3 million, depending on their position in the standings.
One player considered the difficult situation for those in the Liga de Expansión.
“Mexican players have lost a lot of hope because before you could decide it on the field to a certain point. It was in your hands to be able to say that if you move up and win the championship, you have a shot. Now you don’t have that, you have to erase that from your plans. The only way is to have a good season to see if they take a look at you, if they even bother.”
Results: An overwhelming majority of those surveyed preferred promotion and relegation, to the tune of 81.8%. Meanwhile, the remaining 18.2% chose not to respond, and none of the participants said they prefer the current system.
Of the 11 players on a pitch at any given time, Liga MX allows only seven who were not developed in Mexico. It’s a hot-button issue within Mexican soccer as a whole because some see a direct correlation between that rule and El Tri’s group-phase exit from the 2022 World Cup as it represents a decline in player quality.
“There are countries that allow fewer international spots, and I think if we reduce our number, it opens up more opportunities for the Mexican player,” one player said.
Another player agreed: “I’m not on board with seven players not developed in Mexico. I’d like five max, since they take away a spot from Mexican players, including the younger ones. So at the end of the day, the fewer foreigners that you have on your team the better, because you create a more specific filter and add on pure quality international players.”
The logic of some Liga MX players follows that if the number of players without Mexican ties is reduced, the quality of play of the international additions in the tournament will also improve.
“There should be more Mexican than foreign players,” said another. “And the foreign players should have a certain amount of quality to be considered by a team.”
Another player agreed with the general assessment: “I think that only five non-Mexican players should be allowed on the field.”
However, not everyone was in favor of a decrease in international influence. Some players like things as is in Liga MX.
“Soccer is global,” said one player who answered in the affirmative. “This is how you strengthen internal competition in the teams.”
Results: A plurality of participants, 40.9%, did not agree with the current limit of seven non-Mexican players and called for a decrease. However, 27.3% did not respond to the question, and 18.2% registered indifference. Only 13.6% agreed with the current number.
Before the pandemic, the top eight teams in the Liga MX table qualified for the postseason, known as the Liguilla.
That format changed under the Guard1anes 2020 tournament, when up to 12 teams were eligible for the playoffs. The Apertura 2023 then adopted the Play In, in which the first six clubs in the standings head directly to the Liguilla and the next four seeds vie for the two remaining spots. It’s identical to the NBA’s version of the play-in, where the format is applied to each of that league’s two conferences.
On this topic, the majority of players polled indicated they were against the Play In format.
One player’s response: “Personally, I like the Liguilla. It’s more appealing and exciting. I specifically do not like the Play In. Having practically 10 of the 18 qualify seems to me like a mediocre way of doing it, but that’s what’s been going on and it’s also generated more fan expectations and TV ratings. But ideally it should be like before: the top eight teams in the standings qualify.”
One “no” had this to say: “I like eight teams qualifying. I feel that the commitment and the effort are different. You see it another way if you’re a top-eight team based on that, the level of competition goes up and everything is trimmed down. I remember before it was all very tight: 30 points for first place, and eighth-place team was between 25 and 26 points. So I like direct entry into the quarterfinals.”
A third player also did not like the Play In: “It’s 18 teams and basically half of them get in. I would like a Liguilla format with the top eight, period.”
In a recent interview with Caliente TV, Club América chairman Emilio Azcárraga Jean said the Play In was instituted to make up for the “matches owed” to television networks after the Clausura 2020 was canceled because of COVID.
“Half that season wasn’t played, the Liguilla wasn’t played, and so these ideas come up so as to not affect the finaces of the teams and to pay the total amount of matches owed to the networks,” he said.
There are some players who favor the Play In, arguing that it encourages more competition.
“It opens up opportunities for teams at the bottom to fight for a Liguilla,” one of those players said.
Results: Of those polled, 63.6% were not in favor of the Play In format, while 31.9% liked it. It’s worth nothing that 4.5% said they had never participated in a Liga MX postseason.
Created in 2016, the women’s Liga MX Femenil began play in July of the next year. The base salary of players then was about $80 and tripled to $240 in 2022, in the league’s fifth year.
Lately there has been a push for increase and parity among all of the country’s professional players. It’s why in March, Mexico’s senate unanimously approved reforms to federal labor law that establish equal pay between male and female soccer players, among other sports. However, the measure has stalled in Mexico’s lower Chamber of Deputies awaiting approval.
According to ESPN sources, a current Liga MX male player with a senior-team contract can earn up to about $3,200 monthly, which can grow to about $214,000 for top talent.
The minimum salary in Mexico is set at just more than $400.
“I say a base salary would be good for a U20 player who moves up to the first division, and as his career grows the club will decide if that increases or not,” said one player who answered yes. “The same in the Liga Femenil: a base salary is good based on results.”
Said another player who also agreed with establishing a base pay: “I think so because players have to dedicate 100% to this. There is no room for another job, so I think that there should be a minimum salary to provide that security.”
In general terms, Liga MX players agree that pay should be equal based on production.
“I don’t know if it should be equal, but it should be based on what those teams generate,” one player who started at “yes” said before reconsidering. “So I don’t think it should be equal.”
Results: Half of the survey participants are on board with a minimum salary, while 45.4% preferred not to answer and 4.6% replied “no.”
Under the two tournaments played each year, a Liga MX player can take part in around 40 games, including postseason. That number can grow based on international tournaments such as the Leagues Cup, or if the player is called on for national team duty.
The majority of players surveyed don’t have a problem with the number of games played per year, which is similar to the yearly total in other leagues around the world.
For example, Vinícius Júnior played 53 games in the last soccer year between official competitions and friendly matches with Real Madrid and Brazil. Kylian Mbappé played 60 between Paris Saint-Germain and France.
In that same period, Henry Martín appeared in 55 matches combined with América and El Tri.
“We’re within range of the rest of the world,” one player said.
While the total number of games wasn’t a problem, some were looking for variety: “It’s not bad, but hopefully we can play tournaments like the Copa MX or the Libertadores. It would be good to have more games,” one participant said.
“I say yes,” said another. “The number can go up since you adapt, the body adapts. We’re professionals, and the body adapts to that. And with more games there is more rotation in the team, more internal competition, more players that emerge.”
Results: Here, 59% of those surveyed agree on the number of games, 22.8% did not and 18.2% did not reply.
VAR came to Liga MX on Oct. 20, 2018 during a Week 13 match between Atlas and Veracruz. It was tested from then on in subsequent matches that week and the next before it was officially implemented in all stadiums.
According to the league’s referees commission, more than 600 games in six months served as testing grounds before FIFA gave its blessing.
For Clausura 2024, referees were required to share audio, through a stadium’s PA system and big screen, of how they came to their decisions on VAR reviews for clarity’s sake. From that moment on, the details of every decision that VAR overturns are shared with everyone in the stadium.
Liga MX’s players by and large like hearing how the decisions came about.
“You can see what’s happening 100%, so you’re aware that there’s nothing shady going on, no cheating, at the games,” one player said.
Another who answered “yes” replied: “They’re being innovative in that way. Giving their point of view when VAR is called on. It’s a nice intrusion. Obviously, they’re still perfecting it, cleaning all that up. But it’s good for the fans at the stadium and in their homes, to listen to the referee’s decision, because he made it, and I think it’s for the benefit of Mexico soccer, for officiating, and that way it can continue to grow.
Another participant believed that listening in on VAR decisions lends a certain justice to soccer.
“It’s a way of knowing what they’re talking about, what’s been said, why this decision or that one was taken. It’s fair for players, coaches, fans, everyone to know how the decision was made. It’s a good initiative by Liga MX to play the audio, it’s a positive.”
Results: Of those surveyed, 86.4% agreed with audio replays at stadium, 9% did not reply and 4.6% disagreed.
ESPN Mexico reporters Mac Reséndiz, Graciela Reséndiz, Karen Peña, Fernando Villa, Ricardo Cariño and Diego Yvey contributed to this report.
