Nobody would have liked to be in the place of the Atlas fans who attended the game on Saturday, March 5. They experienced moments of terror, pain and anguish. The images that circulated on social networks are chilling, with group pseudo-fans massacring women, older adults and inert youths on the floor with kicks, or with sticks, chairs, stones and any weapon that was at hand. There was no sanity, as security at the stadium never tried to prevent or stop the riots.
What happened was a real tragedy: the worst day in the history of Mexican soccer, so, in the same way, we also expected the harshest sanction in history from the authorities. But what do you think? That Mexican soccer fell short again. The hands of the Mexican Soccer Federation and Liga MX shook their hands to impose an exemplary punishment on the Querétaro club and set an urgent precedent.
The national press, the fans on social networks and the feelings of the people in the streets indicated that a historical corrective would come: a disaffiliation from the team, a veto of life to the stadium, the disappearance of all the Liga MX clubs, even the most dramatic spoke of FIFA preventing Mexico from playing the World Cup in Qatar 10 and withdrawing its venue of the North American World Cup 2026, but none of this happened.
Today the More punished are the directors of the Gallos Blancos, who were disqualified for 5 years, but not the bars, only 3 years and only 1 from the premises: pure inconsistency. The stadium will close its doors for 1 year and the team will remain in the First Division.
The authorities were timid with the sanctions, we do not know their specific reasons, but in speculation it is easy to imagine that they did it thinking of that this could happen later with teams like América, Chivas, Cruz Azul or Pumas and there is no way to disaffiliate them or close their expensive and historic stadiums forever… Or even that it could happen to any other club and that they did it to soften the possible future punishment from today, when the logical thing would be to put a heavy hand and set the precedent to guarantee the safety of those attending these sporting events from now on, not to impose weak sanctions in case it happens to others later. It is difficult to know, perhaps they determined it that way simply out of ineptitude, which would also be alarming, because we do not need people who are not very capable at the head of something, less if it moves masses like this sport.
We hope that this will not have negative consequences in the future, but it is a fact that Mexican soccer is falling short in many ways. Short like the tournaments that for years have given teams the possibility of having bad results for three months and keeping the opportunity to be champions if in the end they reach the position 10 of the overall table. Short like the giant of Concacaf that is getting smaller and smaller. Short as the participation of Monterrey in the Club World Cup or that of Santos in the Concachampions. And short as the reach of Mexican export players, who previously reached FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. And it all starts with these decisions that are made, or not made, both by the Liga MX authorities and by the directors of each club.
With more commitment and discipline on the part of the players, fans and leaders, probably Mexican soccer could take that leap that all of Mexico wants, that recognition international, that football growth, that fifth game in the World Cup… but if we continue to fall short, we are going to be left with the desire.