Mexican football clubs, federation fined heavily for anti-competitive practices

Mexico’s anti-trust watchdog has fined 17 clubs and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) millions of dollars for anti-competitive agreements in the signing of male and female footballers.

The fines, including for some of the country’s major teams, amount to a total of 177.6 million pesos (8.9 million dollars), the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) said in a statement on Thursday.

Following an investigation launched in 2018, the body issued sanctions for two practices that had been common in Mexican football for years, one of which is the “gentlemen’s pact”.

According to this, no club could sign players at the end of their contracts without authorisation and a transfer fee to their former team.

The other one is the setting of a maximum salary for female players.

The salary cap in women’s football, in force for more than two years until 2019, “eliminated competition between clubs to hire them at a better remuneration”.

”It deepened the gender pay gap,” said Cofece.

In turn, the “gentlemen’s pact,” which was in force for 10 years and only abolished after the investigation was already underway and pressure from players mounted, “unduly restricted [players’] labour mobility”.

It Also prevented them from negotiating and contracting with the team that best suited them.”

Following the ruling, the FMF said in a statement that it would not challenge the sanctions, stressing that it had cooperated with the authorities throughout the process.

Among the sanctioned teams are those with the longest tradition and the biggest fan bases in Mexico, such as America, Guadalajara, Cruz Azul and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Eight unidentified individuals were also sanctioned for facilitating these practices.