Tiburones de Veracruz will return to Liga MX, but this team will disappear instead

It’s been more than three years since the last time Veracruz had a Liga MX team, as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz were disaffiliated after Apertura 2019, in December of that year, given the bad management of the team, their brand and the name of Liga MX that the owner back then, Fidel Kuri, had.

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Fidel Kuri was involved in several scandals since he acquired the team in 2011, when it was still Reboceros de la Piedad and played in Mexico’s second flight. When the team was promoted to Liga MX in 2013, Kuri decided to move the team from Guanajuato to Veracruz, where they were rebranded as Tiburones Rojos.

But Kuri was known for the misuse of the team, given that he’s a politician and backed up some political campaigns using the Tiburones Rojos name, something that in 2019, was condemned by FMF and decided to disaffiliate both Veracruz and Fidel Kuri.

Kuri was sued in 2021 by TV Azteca for fraud, which make the returning of Veracruz to Liga MX even more difficult. But now, just months after, a new group of investors are ready to buy the brand and give El Puerto a new Liga MX team.

How can Veracruz return to Liga MX?

According to sports journalist André Marín, there’s a few different options in which the revival of Veracruz could materialize. The first one is to wait until 2023, when Liga MX is expected not only to reestablish the system of promotion/relegation, but also is planning on expanding the number of teams in Mexico’s top flight, meaning that a new franchise could be incorporated without having to move an existing team.

The second path for the group of investors is that one, acquiring an existing team that belongs to an owner with two or more teams in Liga MX, which will mean the disappearance of said team, but also benefits the transparency of Mexican soccer. Currently, CF Pachuca and Club León belong to the same owner, as well as Club Atlas and Santos Laguna, and Club Puebla and Mazatlán FC.

The third option is to acquire a team that currently plays in Liga de Expansión, Mexico’s second flight and invest in good additions as well as a coach that can help them reach Liga MX in a couple of years, something that has happened in the past with other Mexican clubs, like Atlético San Luis.

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