Liga MX and FMF Under Investigation for Possible Anti-Competitive Practices | OneFootball

Mexico’s antitrust regulator has opened a formal investigation into Liga MX and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), putting the country’s powerful soccer establishment under scrutiny over possible anti-competitive practices. And yes, the promotion and relegation saga is right in the middle of it.

Mexican soccer has spent years deciding who gets to play in Liga MX, the country’s top division. Now, for a change, someone outside the soccer world wants to know who gave them the right to make those decisions.

The National Antitrust Commission (CNA) has opened an ex officio investigation into Mexico’s professional soccer market over possible anti-competitive practices involving the structure and organization of professional soccer, including the Liga MX and FMF ecosystem.

The investigation, identified as case IO-001-2026, covers the “affiliation, organization and access to professional federated soccer competitions in Mexico,” as well as related services, according to ESPN.

The authority says it has found sufficient indications to justify investigating whether there have been practices that could constitute an abuse of market power.

And while the CNA has not declared the FMF, Liga MX or any specific club guilty, or even named a specific club as an offender, the investigation puts the structure of Mexican soccer under an uncomfortable new spotlight.

Is this about promotion and relegation?

That is one of the biggest questions.

The FMF recently confirmed that promotion and relegation will not return to Liga MX, meaning clubs in Liga de Expansión will remain separated from Mexico’s top division under the current structure. The system was suspended in 2020 and was originally expected to return after several seasons.

For American readers, imagine a professional league where winning the second division no longer gives a team a sporting path into the top division—and where the teams already in the top league remain there regardless of what happens below them.

That is essentially the argument at the center of the Mexican debate.

The CNA has not said that the elimination of promotion and relegation by the FMF and Liga MX itself is illegal. Instead, it is investigating whether the way professional soccer is organized—including who can affiliate, compete and gain access to the professional system—could amount to an anti-competitive practice.

So no, the government has not ordered Liga MX or the FMF to bring promotion and relegation back.

Not yet, anyway.

Not the first fine for anti-competitive behavior

This is not the first time Mexico’s soccer establishment has had an awkward conversation with an antitrust regulator.

In 2021, the former Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) fined 17 Liga MX clubs and the Mexican Football Federation a combined 177.6 million pesos, approximately $10 million at the time.

The case involved the infamous “pacto de caballeros,” or “gentlemen’s agreement,”as well as salary restrictions in the women’s league.

The arrangement restricted players’ ability to freely negotiate with other clubs, while the women’s league was found to have operated under salary caps that limited players’ earning potential.

A “gentlemen’s agreement” sounds charming. The actual antitrust investigation was considerably less charming.

Now, five years later, Mexico has a new competition authority and a new investigation into the country’s soccer business—and the structure surrounding Liga MX and the FMF is once again under scrutiny.

What exactly is the CNA investigating?

The authority says it has been monitoring reports and complaints from fans regarding possible anti-competitive conduct in Mexican soccer.

According to the CNA, investigators decided to open the case after identifying indications of possible relative monopolistic practices. In essence, conduct involving the abuse of market power that could negatively affect competition.

The investigation does not mean that the FMF, Liga MX or any club has already been found responsible.

That distinction is important.

The opening of an investigation is the beginning of the legal process, not the conclusion.

The CNA can now gather information and evidence to determine whether a violation of Mexico’s competition laws actually occurred. The investigation can last up to 120 business days and may be extended up to three additional times, according to reports on the official proceeding.

What happens if Liga MX or the FMF is found responsible?

If the investigation eventually establishes responsibility for an anti-competitive practice, the consequences could be significant.

The CNA can impose fines of up to 10% of an economic agent’s annual revenue and can also order the correction or elimination of the practice found to be anti-competitive.

That does not mean every Liga MX club is suddenly looking at a 10% bill.

First, the authority has to prove that an illegal practice occurred and determine who was responsible.

But for an industry accustomed to operating behind closed doors, the possibility of having to explain its business model to an antitrust regulator is probably not the kind of new competition anyone was asking for.

Soccer is big business in Mexico

The investigation matters because Mexican soccer is much more than 22 players, a referee crew and several million people yelling at their televisions.

The CNA says professional soccer has a major economic impact in Mexico. The industry attracts roughly 250,000 spectators every weekend and generated around 52 billion pesos (approximately $3 billion) in 2024, according to figures cited by the regulator and reported by El País.

The business also involves television networks, streaming platforms, sponsorships, ticketing, stadiums, advertising and some of Mexico’s most powerful corporate groups.

Companies connected to major media conglomerates, including Televisa and TV Azteca, have historically played significant roles in the country’s soccer ecosystem through club ownership and broadcasting rights.

That concentration of power is part of what makes the investigation potentially important, not just for the clubs currently playing in Liga MX, but for teams trying to enter the professional system.

The verdict is still a long way away

For now, Mexican soccer has not been declared a monopoly.

The FMF has not been found guilty.Liga MX has not been found guilty.And no club has been ordered to return promotion and relegation.

What has happened is simpler and potentially much more uncomfortable: the Mexican government has decided to take a closer look at how Liga MX, the FMF and the organizations surrounding professional soccer control access to their own competition.

The investigation comes after years of criticism over promotion and relegation, the relationship between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión, and the concentration of power among the organizations that control professional soccer.

So, after years of Mexican soccer telling everyone that the rules are the rules, someone has finally asked the obvious question: Who made the rules—and are they actually legal?

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