Morelia reigns in Expansión but without the option of promotion Atlético Morelia is the new king of the Liga de Expansión MX, but despite that, his project still cannot think of climbing to the First Division of Mexican soccer due to administrative situations that keep him without the appropriate certification to seek promotion.
After two years of competing in the Mexican soccer silver circuit, Morelia managed to win its first star by defeating the Cimarrones de Sonora by a score of 2-0 at the Morelos stadium, in Michoacán, thanks to the annotations of Luis Pérez and Javier Ibarra in the final stretch of the second leg match played on May 14 (the goals fell at 80′ and 94′).
In this way, coach Ricardo Valiño’s team closed a series that began on Wednesday night with a goalless draw at the Héroes de Nacozari stadium in Sonora, but in which the lineage of Morelia’s champion was already glimpsed, who insisted with more danger and with better plays on goal.
Atlético Morelia becomes the fourth champion that Liga de Expansión MX has had since its birth in the summer of 2020, after Tampico Madero (Guardianes 2020), Tepatitlán (Guardianes 2021) and Atlante (Apertura 2021). In fact, Morelia and Atlante will compete for the Champion of Champions trophy this summer.
The Michoacán squad also won an economic prize of 10 million pesos and the sensation of the first star for the Morelia plaza since the Copa MX trophy that Monarcas won in the 2013 Apertura, while the last league championship they had won It was in the winter of 2000, more than 20 years ago.
But despite the excitement over the title, Atlético de Morelia will not be able to aspire to promotion any time soon. In a statement, Liga MX pointed out that, until the end of the 2021-22 season, the Michoacan team cannot be considered one of the teams in search of promotion because it is in the middle of a process before the Mexican Soccer Federation. (FMF).
“Club Atlético Morelia did not go ahead in the process since it is carrying out an administrative procedure based on the Affiliation, Name and Headquarters Regulations,” says the Liga MX bulletin, ruling out this team along with three others. in search of promotion.
In previous months, the Expansion League had confirmed that five teams had submitted all the documentation required to Liga MX to seek to be candidates for promotion to the First Division, but that said documentation would be evaluated by the body and by an external auditor to decide who they could compete.
Of those five clubs, the only one that passed all the filters and received the endorsement of Liga MX for eventual promotion was Leones Negros from the University of Guadalajara (UDG), while Atlético Morelia was rejected because it was in the process of affiliating. and the other three, Atlante, Venados de Yucatán and Correcaminos of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (UAT), “did not meet all the established criteria, so work will continue with these institutions to strengthen their sports and financial projects with a view to future certification.
The statement does not specify the items in which Atlante, Venados and Correcaminos failed, but it does emphasize that they are the main criteria of analysis: the affiliation file, infrastructure, economic control, institutional structure, improvement fund and business plan.
“Practically just as we were champions, we are going to reach Liga MX very soon. Being a champion is unmatched, you have to be very respectful of the league, it is doing a great job, but we are doing our processes, the project is very solid with 21 partners now, with the support of the government”, said the president of Atlético Morelia , José Luis Higuera, during the celebrations for the title against Cimarrones.
For now, Liga MX does not allow Morelia to think about returning to the First Division, where it competed until the first half of 2020, before the then owner of the team, TV Azteca, decided to move its place from Liga MX to Mazatlán. , Sinaloa. However, the Higuera board assures that it will continue to meet the requirements to be considered as the venue for Liga MX again.
