What the Loss of Ascenso MX means for Mexican Soccer.

Mexican soccer has been plagued by many problems: ruthless owners who move clubs with ease without respect for local fans, Liga MX's lack of relevancy on the global soccer market despite the country's never ending passion for the game, & a league filled with corruption that favors giant clubs like Club America and Chivas at the expense of many around the country.

This week though might have been one of the saddest in my time following Mexican soccer. The writing has been on the wall for months that Ascenso (Mexico's second division) wasn't in a good spot. At the beginning of the 2019-20 Apertura season 18 teams took the field by the time the 2020 Clausura season started 12 were left. Notable regional names like UNAM Potros, Loros, & Veracruz all declared bankruptcy and were thus dissolved.

Tiburones de Veracruz, one of the most poorly run clubs in Liga MX was dissolved at the end of 2019.

It was clear that Ascenso needed reform and the second division was struggling for relevancy with many of its clubs lacking the necessary standards to meet promotion to Liga MX. Then in mid April, Liga MX President Enrique Bonilla announced that Liga MX would suspend pro-rel until 2026, making it even harder for Ascenso. This created outrage on Twitter among Mexican players like Carlos Vela who stood up for the communities of Ascenso teams who would be locked out of Liga MX because of the decision.

Carlos Vela's response to the Liga MX's decision to stop pro-rel.

Then came the nail in the coffin with the announcement last weekend that Ascenso MX would be no more and instead a developmental league would form with reserve sides like America B, Chivas B, and others filling the void along with a few sides from the third division. It was rumored earlier this year that Ascenso MX would expand from 12 to 20 over the summer and include new sides like Mezlatan, a city that just finished building a 20,000 seater stadium built for a second division team. Ascenso MX needed to change before this crisis, adding reserve sides to it though might not be the answer. However; it is understandable given how poor some of the independent sides in Ascenso MX and third division sides (who couldn't even earn promotion to Ascenso) were run before this.

Mezlatan's new soccer stadium will be ready by the summer and become home for a new professional team (either first or second division).

The future for independent lower division soccer in Mexico is now murkier than ever with the announcement of Liga Balompie, a "rebel league" created by former Mexican national team players Carlos Salcido and Ramon Morales designed for clubs fed up with the lack of pro-rel to Liga MX. The league is run by the ANBM (Asociation Nacional de Balompie Mexicano), an autonomous organization running outside the jurisdiction of the FMF.

A potential 22 team Liga Balompie league by September 2020?

The league has already announced multiple teams from cities that don't have Ascenso or Liga MX teams including Neza 86, Athletico Veracruz, Acapulco, & Ensenada. The question is how many third division and current second division teams will jump ship to this new league in the coming years.

Liga Balompie wants backing from the Mexican football federation while at the same time condoning what FMF has done in its recent decision with Ascenso MX like so many fans of the game. If they get recognition from the FMF, we could be looking at a potential "Soccer War" between the Liga MX system and an independent system (kind of like NISA/NASL v MLS/USL in America).

No matter how you look at it, there are more questions than answers. Though what is clear is that Liga MX for years has been trying to become like MLS and increase its commercial revenue. Without pro-rel to deal with, Liga MX and it's owners can think about possibly creating a "North American SuperLiga" of some kind with MLS teams in order to increase that revenue. How that happens is anyone's guess at this point.

With the 2026 World Cup coming up, both Liga MX and MLS have announced plans to become more intertwined than ever with both planning the Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup, & MLS All-Star game against each other. It's clear that Liga MX and MLS clearly want to undermine CONCACAF and the CCL instead of investing in it. Both leagues are clearly only interested in short term gains.

The end game is here and it's not pretty for soccer in Mexico. While the Liga Balompie might provide some temporary reprieve for clubs fed up with the FMF, Ascenso MX (or whatever the new league is called) won't be reaching its full potential as a developmental league for Liga MX clubs.

Soccer as we have mentioned many times before is about community not revenue. With a closed shop Liga MX at the top and a developmental second division at the bottom, it is clear that Liga MX clubs do not care about what is good for the game in Mexico. They care more about protecting their status and money.

This means for regional clubs like Iraputo, Tempico Madero, Orizaba, & many other clubs with great histories won't get the chance to ever compete to reach Liga MX again and that is troubling for the game no matter how you slice it.