Mexican senators push to restore football promotion and relegation

Mexican senators are seeking to put promotion and relegation into national law, escalating a dispute over the closed structure of the country's football leagues. According to Associated Press reporting published by the Guardian, officials announced that a legislative reform would be proposed on Tuesday. The announcement does not mean that promotion and relegation have been restored.

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Senator Clemente Castañeda of Movimiento Ciudadano is leading the initiative, with support from representatives of other party leaderships, including Ignacio Mier of the governing Morena party. The proposal would make sporting merit an explicit obligation for national sports associations. Castañeda argued that removing the opportunity to move between divisions had also limited development opportunities for players, staff and football projects.

Top-flight club owners suspended promotion and relegation in April 2020, citing financial problems among second-division teams that had worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. The suspension was originally intended to last five years. Under that timetable, the system would have returned last year, allowing promotion and relegation at the end of the season that concluded in May. That return did not happen.

Several second-division clubs began protesting last year, calling on football authorities to fulfil the original agreement. The Mexican Football Federation said the economic conditions required for reinstatement were not in place. Liga MX also required clubs seeking promotion to meet certification rules, including a stadium capacity of 30,000, a threshold the AP report said some existing first-division clubs did not meet. Authorities removed promotion and relegation from the regulations altogether this year without explaining the decision, according to the report.

The dispute has affected clubs whose investors expected a route into the top division. Cancún FC was bought in 2022 by a group involving former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow on the understanding that promotion would return. Protests have also reached the pitch, with second-division players standing still after kick-off or exchanging passes without attempting to attack. Supporters have worn protest shirts at stadiums.

Separately, Mexico's National Antitrust Commission opened an investigation last week into possible monopolistic practices linked to the absence of promotion and relegation. The AP said the Mexican Football Federation had not responded to its request for comment. The legislative initiative and competition investigation therefore add two new strands to a dispute whose sporting outcome remains unresolved.