The Alebrijes of Oaxaca won the Apertura 2019 Ascenso MX Final in December. The Alebrijes will go down in history as the final Ascenso MX champions, but they will have no chance of winning promotion to Liga MX until 2026 at the earliest. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
Mexican soccer officials shuttered the financially troubled second division and the Liga de Expansión was born.
The suspension of the Liga MX season has deprived soccer fans of action on the pitch, but over the past two weeks there has been plenty of activity in the boardroom.
League officials and the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) have completely overhauled Mexico’s long-troubled second division, converting it into a developmental league that will be called Liga de Expansión.
The first hint of an eventual death blow came in January when the FMF announced that promotion to Liga MX from Ascenso MX was off the table. The accounting firm Ernst & Young had performed a comprehensive audit of the second division and none of the clubs met the established certification standards.
Before the Clausura 2020 season started, the league had been reduced to 12 teams, an historic low, and several of those teams were in dire financial straits. Some reports suggested a few teams were on pace to lose 40 million pesos this year. There were games this season with fewer than 2,000 fans and league-wide average attendance was just 5,135 per game.
The league had become stagnant, rosters were stocked with first-division rejects and veterans with little incentive other than to extend their playing careers. Player agents colluded with general managers to supply foreigners of limited quality and the product on the field was less and less attractive.
After league play was suspended in mid-March, team reps met and decided to simply cancel the season with three weeks remaining before the playoffs. It was a contested vote (7-5) and players quickly complained that they were not consulted before the decision was made.
A few weeks later, reports leaked that Liga MX was going to address the situation. Some worried that Ascenso MX would simply disappear or that another doomed-to-fail quick-fix would be attempted.
Instead, the initial reports were quite promising. The new Liga de Expansión will serve as a developmental league with team rosters populated by young players fighting to make names for themselves and hoping to earn spots on Liga MX teams.
Liga MX officials announced they would provide financial backing for the next five years during which time there would be no promotion (and thus no relegation from the top division). The goal is to get the new league onto sound financial footing within five years and increase participation to 20 teams, each of whom would be fully certified to earn promotion to Liga MX.
There is still work to be done, but the outline of the plan shows promise and Mexico’s second division would not only be salvaged, but a sustainable framework would be put in place.
plenty of activity in the boardroom</a>.</p>
<p>League officials and the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) have completely overhauled <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/opinion/gerardo-velazquez-de-leon/la-muerte-del-ascenso-mx">Mexico’s long-troubled second division</a>, converting it into a developmental league that will be called Liga de Expansión.</p>
<p>The first hint of an eventual death blow came in January when the FMF announced that promotion to Liga MX from Ascenso MX was off the table. The accounting firm Ernst & Young had performed a comprehensive audit of the second division and none of the clubs met the established certification standards.</p>
<p>Before the Clausura 2020 season started, the league had been reduced to 12 teams, an historic low, and several of those teams were in dire financial straits. Some reports suggested a few teams were on pace to lose 40 million pesos this year. There were games this season with fewer than 2,000 fans and league-wide average attendance was just 5,135 per game.</p>
<div class="recent-posts ">
<h4>More from <b>Liga MX</b></h4>
<ul>
<li>
<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/13/leon-juarez-playoffs/">
Leon edges scrappy FC Juarez to secure spot in playoffs
</a>
</li><li>
<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/liga-mx-leon-puebla-finales/">
León chasing play-in spot; Puebla aims for higher seeding
</a>
</li><li>
<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/tigres-goalie-america/">
Carlos Rodríguez emerges with clean sheet vs league leaders
</a>
</li><li>
<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/10/liga-mx-tigres-america-2/">
América at Tigres: Liga MX royalty square off in season finale
</a>
</li><li>
<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/09/chino-vs-guadalajara/">
‘Chino’ Huerta eager to show Chivas what might have been
</a>
</li></ul>
</div>
<p>The league had become stagnant, rosters were stocked with first-division rejects and veterans with little incentive other than to extend their playing careers. Player agents colluded with general managers to supply foreigners of limited quality and the product on the field was less and less attractive.</p>
<p>After league play was suspended in mid-March, team reps met and decided to simply cancel the season with three weeks remaining before the playoffs. It was a contested vote (7-5) and players quickly complained that they were not consulted before the decision was made.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, reports leaked that Liga MX was going to address the situation. Some worried that Ascenso MX would simply disappear or that another doomed-to-fail quick-fix would be attempted.</p>
<p>Instead, the initial reports were quite promising. The new Liga de Expansión will serve as a developmental league with team rosters populated by young players fighting to make names for themselves and hoping to earn spots on Liga MX teams.</p>
<p>Liga MX officials announced they would provide <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://sports.yahoo.com/liga-mx-promotion-relegation-suspended-032949802.html">financial backing for the next five years during which time there would be no promotion</a> (and thus no relegation from the top division). The goal is to get the new league onto sound financial footing within five years and increase participation to 20 teams, each of whom would be fully certified to earn promotion to Liga MX.</p>
<p>There is still work to be done, but the outline of the plan shows promise and Mexico’s second division would not only be salvaged, but a sustainable framework would be put in place.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 26 years of mediocrity </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_480792" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-480792" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1193440952-850x560.jpeg" alt="Liga MX developmental" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Pachuca was an original member of Primera A when it was founded 26 years ago. Now they are a consistent playoff contender. Here, Tuzos defender Gerardo Mascareño takes on Cruz Azul midfielder Omar Rodríguez during the Invierno 1999 Finals won by the Tuzos only three seasons after they won promotion. (Photo by JORGE SILVA/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h3>Second division rarely demonstrated viability</h3>
<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkzvIYvnR_c%22>In 1994, the FMF took steps to prop up Mexico’s struggling second division.</a> But the changes proved to be little more than cosmetic. The league was renamed Primera A, loosely suggesting there was little difference between First Division soccer and the new organization.</p>
<p>Uncertainty and constant change remained the name of the game. The only thing that didn’t change was instability.</p>
<p>Every season saw more turnover – new teams, new locales, new owners. Primera A started with 17 teams (including Pachuca) and 26 years later the list of teams that have gone through this league exceeds 70.</p>
<p>There was constant tweaking of rules and regulations in an effort to prop up the Primera A. In an effort to provide greater stability, each Liga MX club was required to have an affiliate in Primera A beginning in the late 1990s. The league grew to 24 teams.</p>
<p>In 2009, the league was rebranded Liga de Ascenso … but circumstances did not improve as clubs failed to pay players, several teams were disaffiliated for one violation or another, and owners with shady backgrounds were allowed to buy their way into the league.</p>
<p>Only three years later – 2012 – another rescue effort was tried and the league was renamed Ascenso MX. Stricter fiscal auditing standards were adopted and rules were put in place that forced teams to be fully certified to join Liga MX via promotion (an “A” quality stadium with minimum capacity of 20,000; basic facilities for youth categories and, later, women’s teams; healthy and transparent financial situations).</p>
<p>But clubs were simply unable to meet the new certification requirements and the second division slimmed down to 14 teams during the summer of 2019. In addition, three of the remaining teams were owned by groups that operated Liga MX teams which made them ineligible for promotion (multi-team ownership is prohibited, though there are exceptions).</p>
<p>In December, the Loros de Colima and Potros UAEM franchises folded and Ascenso MX was down to 12 teams. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced suspension of the Clausura, the writing was on the wall. Though five clubs resisted canceling the season to accept the Liga MX proposal, it soon became clear that the choice was either accept the creation of a developmental league, or face extinction.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Hammering out the details </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_480790" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-480790" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1050466468-850x560.jpeg" alt="Liga MX expansión" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Diego Maradona served as coach of the Dorados of Sinaloa for two seasons – leading them to two Finals – and his presence boosted the profile of the Sinaloa club. But interest in other Ascenso MX clubs waned considerably. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h3>Liga MX will serve as patron of Liga de Expansión</h3>
<p>On Friday, Mexican soccer authorities unanimously approved the new Liga de Expansión and confirmed the financing that would be provided. The Liga MX and FMF will provide 60 million pesos to the 12 remaining clubs so they can take care of current accounts.</p>
<p>Over each of the next five years, the developmental league will receive 240 million pesos that each club must use to modernize operations and infrastructure (stadiums as well as training grounds) and to establish fiscal stability. Club spending will be audited.</p>
<p>Liga MX will also negotiate TV rights collectively with an eye on revenue equity while both regional and national broadcasts will be sought. Current TV contracts for Ascenso MX have only benefited a few teams and has resulted in narrowing exposure for the league.</p>
<p>The path to a 20-team league will be determined at a later date, though it is likely that at least four teams will come from the Liga Premier, a separate second division league. The other four teams will probably be new franchises affiliated with Liga MX clubs.</p>
<p>Player eligibility has yet to be determined, but the primary goal is to provide a system whereby U-23 players can develop after they’ve aged out of U-20 rosters at Liga MX clubs. Specific age limits and eligibility of foreign players will be decided at a later date.</p>
<p>The age restriction idea has been a sticking point thus far as 240 players on the rosters of Ascenso MX teams would be ineligible to play in the Liga de Expansión if a hard U-23 limit is imposed.</p>
<p>As for the eligibility of foreigners, one vague notion floated is that they must demonstrate commitment to the Liga de Expansión and a willingness to help young players develop. No word on how that might be “enforced.”</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="The best of the Super Clásicos" data-url="https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/18/chivas-america-best-liga-mx-clasico/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/26/liga-mx-closes-ascenso-creates-league/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/04/18/chivas-america-best-liga-mx-clasico/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> The best of the Super Clásicos </a> </div>
</div>
<p>So, it’s apparent that there is still a great deal of work to do. But if this is done properly, Mexico (and El Tri) could see more effective player development.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">