September 15: Mexican soccer faces a regulatory headache after the country’s competition authority opened a formal investigation into possible anti-competitive practices in the professional game.
The National Antimonopoly Commission (CNA) said it had found sufficient grounds to examine whether the organizations or companies had abused their market position in “affiliation, organization and access to professional federated football competitions” and related services.
No club, league or federation has been found guilty of anything, and the CNA has yet to identify specific parties under investigation. But the obvious focus is Liga MX and, in particular, the way access to the first category is controlled.
Promotion and relegation were suspended in 2020 and remain one of the most controversial issues in Mexican football. Several clubs in the Expansion League are already investigating a case through the Court of Arbitration for Sport to try to reopen the route to Liga MX. Local reports have closely tied the antitrust investigation to this dispute, although the CNA’s mandate is broader than just promotion.
Liga MX president Mikel Arriola has sought to reshape the business model around the competition by phasing out ownership of multiple clubs and centralizing more commercial assets and television rights. Earlier this year, the league also approved a new governance structure that gave Liga MX more legal separation from the Mexican federation.
Mexican soccer has long had unusually close ties between club ownership, broadcasters and major business groups. Televisa and Grupo Salinas, through TV Azteca, historically combined significant media influence with stakes in various clubs, although both have since reduced those stakes.
If anti-competitive behavior is finally proven, the CNA can fine organizations up to 10% of annual revenue and order that the practice be changed or stopped.
There’s a bit of history here too. In 2021, CNA’s predecessor Cofece fined 17 clubs, the Mexican Football Federation and eight individuals a combined $10,343,157 after finding collusion over player movement and salary caps in the women’s game.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)