After a disastrous spell for Mexican soccer on the men’s and women’s side, the Mexican federation announced a series of changes at a press conference on Wednesday.
Sporting director Gerardo Torrado, sporting director of national teams Ignacio Hierro, and men’s Under-20 head coach Luis Pérez were all fired, with women’s national team head coach Monica Vergara’s future still in the balance.
Yon de Luisa, president of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), also announced a new structure in which the federation will hire two sporting directors, one to oversee the men’s program and one to oversee the women’s program.
“The results in the last weeks from our U-20 and women’s teams that were significant hits for Mexican football, and mostly for our fans, made us take action,” De Luisa said.
In the span of just a few weeks, Mexico suffered a double blow.
First, the men’s U-20 team fell to Guatemala in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which saw the team miss out on both the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.
Then the senior women’s team also missed out on the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, after losing all three games on home soil in the group stage of the CONCACAF W Championship.
De Luisa said that the incoming leader of the women’s program would determine Vergara’s fate.
Martino safe for now
De Luisa also maintained his backing for men’s national team coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who has been under pressure for some time.
Mexico did qualify for the 2022 World Cup but has suffered a host of poor results this year, including home draws against Costa Rica and the USMNT, further draws against Jamaica and Guatemala, and a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay.
But De Luisa insisted that Martino would be going nowhere before the World Cup begins in November, with the coach to be evaluated after the competition.
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