The rise of El Tri-Levisa and the war for Mexico’s football federation

This story originally appeared on Voxxi.

As the Mexican national team took out its World Cup qualifying frustrations on low-ranked New Zealand last week, Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl took to Twitter to describe the months-long drama as “the best telenovela ever.” He may be more correct than he realizes if sports journalist Miguel Pazcabrales is right.

Pazcabrales has outlined in his column Los Demonios Del Deporte what he believes is the return of Televisa’s hand in controlling the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion (FMF).

Much like the return of the Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI) to power, the conglomerate is the ousted hand of power that has returned to rock the cradle.

“I no longer believe that it’s a coincidence,” exclaims Pazcabrales, “that every time the World Cup draws near, Mexico is always at risk of not qualifying.”

He cites as evidence El Tri’s rescue at the hands of Javier Aguirre from the failures of Sven Gorak-Eriksson and Enrique Meza and the intervention of Manuel Lapuente in the run-up to the World Cup ‘98.

The current managerial crisis that has seen four managers take over El Tri in a little over a month is an exaggerated, almost cartoon-like version of Televisa’s past attempts at creating drama on a national scale with football as its main protagonist.

Through shrewd, opportunistic maneuvers, the largest multimedia company in Mexico (and second largest in Latin America) has worked behind the scenes to “rescue” the federation and the national team on various occasions, purposefully creating a real-life soap opera surrounding the country’s pastime in order to advance their profits by controlling broadcasting rights and bombarding Tri fans with merchandise, advertisements, and more.

The current version of this manufactured crisis begins in 2011 with the appointment of Jose Manuel de la Torre.

Two successful years as coach came to an end in 2013 after a dismal record in the CONCACAF qualifiers and the Confederations Cup.

Luis Fernando Tena took over for one game and Victor Manuel Vucetich lasted two games before being forced out by the FMF (the circumstances of which are incredibly suspicious) in favor of current coach Miguel Herrera.

Herrera, his coaching staff, and his squad of Club America players were loaned to the FMF by its owners to secure Mexico’s place in the World Cup. Unfortunately, this telenovela has more groan-inducing twists than every film by M. Night Shyamalan combined.

Plot twist #1: Televisa owns Club America.

Plot twist #2: FMF president Justino Compean is a former employee of Televisa with stints as head of Club Necaxa and, the cradle of Mexico’s soccer universe, the Estadio Azteca. He was promoted to the biggest seat in the FMF thanks to the collusion of Televisa and its competitor TV Azteca in a bid to protect their mutual interests in football revenue.

Plot twist #3: Billionaire Carlos Slim, owner of TelMex and America Movil, has made numerous maneuvers into Televisa’s territory. He recently purchased Estudiantes Tecos as well as shares in C.F. Pachuca and Club Leon. This gives him extra clout in the FMF (league owners have a vote/say in the FMF’s operations) and the broadcast rights for their games, drawing the ire of Televisa and TV Azteca who were the league’s broadcasting duopoly for many years.

Plot twist #4: Jorge Vergara is the owner of Chivas de Guadalajara, Club America’s fiercest rival. It was long-rumored that Slim was interested in purchasing Chivas plus a few of his other properties. Vergara’s revolving door record with his club’s coaches mirrors the current situation with the FMF.

Plot twist #5: De La Torre coached Chivas (2005 – 2007) before his stint with El Tri.

Plot twist #6: Vergara was Herrera’s most vocal supporter as Vucetich’s replacement.

Mexico’s greatest footballer Hugo Sanchez said it best in a recent column for El Universal where he spoke out against the owners and higher-ups of the FMF for treating his beloved sport as nothing more than a toy for them to make money off of.

“The saddest part of this story…is that people are oblivious,” he said, “and they continue being manipulated and conditioned into believing that the players and the coaches are to blame for this crisis we have befallen. They are absolutely mistaken.”

Unfortunately for Sanchez and Tri fans everywhere, only Televisa knows how this telenovela will end.

The Drug War’s Psychological Impact

Nearly every story about the drug war in Mexico begins with or eventually mentions statistics on the number of persons killed as a result of it. Far too little of them, however, consider the effects of the drug war on those who survive and continue to live through it.

Credit: elimparcial.es (photographer unknown)

The issue is widespread across the entire country especially in areas such as Ciudad Juarez which have been wracked by violence, kidnappings, extortion, etc. more than most.

As Miriam Wells of Insight Crime points out:

One challenge that Mexico will likely face in the coming years is assessing the true extent of the psychological toll left by the drug war. Asides from enduring kidnappings, gun battles, and other very public displays of violence, many Mexicans must deal with the question of what happened to friends and relatives who have disappeared. The Attorney General’s Office has estimated that over 26,000 people were reported missing between 2006 and 2012.

A story in Al-Jazeera describes the mental toll on medical staff in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in Juarez but also mentions how the drug war (a.k.a. narco war) has orphaned many children:

“Mental problems really started growing in Juarez three years ago,” says Pastor Jose Antonio Galvan, who runs a mental rehabilitation clinic on the city’s dusty outskirts.

He estimates that 300,000 people in Juarez are facing mental or spiritual illnesses.

“For every person who is executed here, 40 people, including friends and family members, are affected by the ripples,” says Galvan, describing the stress residents face.

Ten thousand orphans are victims of the narco war, he says. Ninety per cent find refuge with other family members, but the remainder become “the next generation of hit-men and criminal minds”.

Galvan explained the situation in Juarez in greater detail in a story in the Colorado Statesman:

In the last two years, there have been roughly 7,500 murders. That means that there are tens of thousands of survivors — family and friends — who are in mourning. In addition, thousands of orphans live on the streets or in tapias or abandoned houses. “They are children of sadness, of hate,” El Pastor says. Since they have no education, no work skills and no family support, they are easily recruited into the dozens of gangs that make Juárez so dangerous.

US News published a story on the mental effects the war, as well as poverty, and how it affects children in Juarez:

Researchers looked at the mental health of children and teens living in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 2007 and again in 2010. All of the children were Mexican or Mexican-American and lived in homes below the poverty level. None had a history of diagnosed mental illness.

The psychosocial and behavioral scores of the children in El Paso did not change significantly between 2007 and 2010. However, the children in Ciudad Juarez showed significant increases in social problems, rule- breaking and aggression scores over the study period.

…

“There is cumulative harm to the mental health of children from the combination of collective violence attributed to organized crime and poverty,” study author Marie Leiner said in an AAP news release.

Ruben Villalpando of La Jornada published a story government research that discovered that 22,000 junior high/middle school students suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the drug war.

Adicionalmente, más de 22 mil estudiantes de secundaria sufren de estrés postraumático por el duelo de haber perdido a un familiar de forma violenta, presenciar una balacera, pasar por una escena del crimen o escuchar relatos similares.

***translation

Additionally, more than 22,000 junior high students suffer from post-traumatic stress caused by the pain of losing a loved one to violence, by witnessing a shootout, passing by the scene of a crime, or listening to stories of such events.

Studies into this topic are necessary not only to completely understand the effects of the war but also, and more importantly, how to better assist those hurt by it.

Subsuelo Presents Los Tres Marks

LA-based global bass collective Subsuelo has hosted a number of great parties at the Bootleg Theatre (formerly the Bootleg Bar) this past year on a sporadic basis. They returned there last week for “Subsuelo Presents Los Tres Marks.”

The event brought together three equally-talented guys named Mark to the same stage: Mark de Clive-Lowe (Tru Thoughts), Nu-Mark (Jurassic Five), and Money Mark (The Beastie Boys).

de Clive-Lowe opened the night of Marks with some keyboard and drum sampling work followed by Nu-Mark who spun a great set and performed his infamous toy set where he uses a number of children’s toys to perform music, samples, etc. There’s footage of it about halfway through the video above.

Finally, Money Mark joined the two onstage for a once-in-a-lifetime-you-had-to-be-there-to-feel-it-all live jam/collaboration to end the night.

These parties are a welcome change from their regular monthly parties, which, don’t get me wrong, are still lots of fun. However, the capacity at their regular venue is probably 1/20th in comparison which doesn’t leave much elbow room on the dance floor.

The ALMA Awards 2013

I was at the ALMA Awards this past Friday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. It was my first major red carpet event and a great reminder of why I turned down paparazzi-style work years ago. It was a madhouse in there!

I wrote up a little something for Voxxi about the event. Here are a few photos I took from the red carpet where I was very comfortably nestled towards the back (hey, that’s sarcasm!) except for the first half hour or so when I managed to squeeze between the cameramen from CNN Español and Mun2.

Quitapenas in Tucson, AZ

My boys in Quitapenas played a concert in Tucson, AZ last Friday Sept. 20th at Hotel Congress and I hitched a ride with them for a two-day road trip from Cali to Arizona to shoot a few photos. Many thanks to Logan Phillips a.k.a. DJ Dirty Verbs for his hospitality.

Hecho En Mexico Director’s Cut Screening

Hecho En Mexico, the musical documentary/love letter about our neighbor to the south, received its second premiere last week with a star-studded concert and screening at the Ford Theatres in Hollywood.

The Topanga Film Institute helped director Duncan Bridgeman celebrate the release of his director’s cut of the film with a VIP party and concert featuring Gull, Sergio Arau, and Ximena Sariñana.

The original cut of the film was released in theaters last year. The movie features a number of important musicians, thinkers, and celebrities on-screen who share their thoughts about modern Mexico.

What’s A Superclásico? Football Rivalries In Latin America

I’ve been working on a monthly column for Remezcla titled Your Guide to Clásicos De Fútbol Rivalries. Since February, I’ve been writing about the rivalry between a pair of teams in Latin America (with one exception for the FC Barcelona/Real Madrid F.C. rivalry in Spain) and delve into their history, crazy fans and more.

The archive of stories can be found HERE and so far include:

FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid F.C. (Spain)
Atlético Independiente vs. Racing Club De Avellaneda (Argentina)
Chivas vs. América (Mexico)
Flamengo vs. Fluminense a.k.a. Fla-Flu (Brazil)
Nacional vs. Peñarol (Uruguay)
Boca Juniors vs. River Plate (Argentina)

I still have PLENTY of more rivalries to write about. My next column will focus on a rivalry from Costa Rica in anticipation of this month’s CONCACAF Champions League match between LA Galaxy and C.S. Cartaginés in L.A.

Mexico vs. Panama Gold Cup Match at The Rose Bowl

This past Sunday was the much anticipated first set of CONCACAF Gold Cup matches between Mexico and Panama. Canada vs. Martinique was played before in a double-header but I skipped it in order to partake in all the free food at the tailgate parties.