Erendira Palma Hernandez
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, October 27, 2024, p. 5
While Emilio Azcárraga Jean requested leave to stop presiding over the Televisa consortium, a media giant, when he was investigated by the United States Department of Justice for an alleged case of bribery to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to obtain the rights transmission of four world cups, Ivar Sisniega, executive president of the Mexican Soccer Federation, said he was unaware of this situation. I don’t have any knowledge on the subject so I wouldn’t have anything to say.
he limited himself to pointing out when contacted by The Day.
The investigation against Azcárraga Jean related to the FIFAgatea mega scandal that broke out in 2015 and involved international soccer executives, including former FIFA head Josep Blatter, caused the businessman to leave the television station while the consortium’s shares fell by up to 8.86 percent on the stock market on Friday. Mexican Securities.
Despite the controversy, silence has been the response of the Mexican soccer federations. In addition to Sisniega, The Day He sought out managers such as Mikel Arriola, president of Liga Mx, and former president Decio de María without obtaining a statement.
The reaction seems to reflect the close relationship that has existed for decades between the television station and the power leadership of the FMF.
Former leaders, employees of the television station
Although Azcárraga is known for being the owner of the América club and the Azteca stadium, home of the Mexican team, he also has a close relationship with the FMF to the extent that several former leaders of the organization were employees of the television station.
The bond between Televisa and the FMF dates back decades, when Guillermo Cañedo directed it from 1960 to 1970 while he was president of the América club, owned by the Azcárraga family.
Marcelino García Paniagua also supported Televisa when he was at the head of the federation by returning the Tricolor broadcast rights to it after Emilio Maurer took them away from him in the early 1990s to sign an agreement with Imevisión.
To avoid a similar episode, Televisa assured its closeness to the entity in charge of national soccer and encouraged several characters in its close circle to take the reins of the organization.
Thus, Enrique Borja, former player and idol of América, directed the FMF from 1998 to 2000, and after his departure Alberto de la Torre Bouvet remained at the helm until 2006.
It was then that the presidency of the FMF was in the hands of Justino Compeán, who had worked at Televisa since 1987 and collaborated in the organization of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Compeán announced his departure from the Mexican Soccer Federation days before the scandal broke out in May 2015. FIFAgateand although at that time he was also vice president of Concacaf, he was not involved in the international controversy.
With the departure of Justino Compeán, the FMF was led from 2015 to 2018 by Decio de María, a graduate in Economics from ITAM who also collaborated in the organization of the 1986 World Cup and was a public official.
During the 2018 Russia World Cup cycle, the FMF was directed by Yon de Luisa, a man close to Azcárraga Jean after having been vice president of Televisa Deportes and leader of América.
De Luisa’s management culminated in 2018 in the midst of a sports crisis for the national team, which is why the position of commissioner of the Mexican Soccer Federation was created.
Juan Carlos Bomb Rodríguez, also a former employee of Televisa and who was in charge of creating the TUDN brand for the television station’s sports section, holds the position of commissioner of the FMF, while he is accompanied by Ivar Sisniega, executive president and former director of the Conade.
