Multi-Million Dollar Penalty For FC Juarez Appears Imminent

After losing Friday night to Necaxa on the road with less than 10 seconds to go in the match by the score of 1-0, FC Juarez has fallen to last place in the general standings table. The Bravos have lost 4 of their last 5 matches, and after 11 matches have only accumulated 9 points.

With a coach change made mid last week that saw Alfonso Sosa take over the team, the Bravos didn’t look much different. This is understandable as Sosa took over the team on Wednesday and the very next day the team took a flight to city of Aguascalientes to face Necaxa.

It will take time for Sosa’s tutelage to be felt. Unfortunately for the Bravos, time is not on their side.

FC Juarez has 6 matches to accumulate as many points as possible in an attempt to avoid a possible multi-million dollar fine.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The Mexican Soccer Federation suspended promotion and relegation last summer citing there was not enough teams in the second division with the sufficient infrastructure and big enough bank accounts to meet the demands of fielding a team in the first division. As an alternative, they came up with monetary fines for those teams in the first division that finished in the bottom of the average points accumulated per match table.

Typically the team in last place of this table would be the team that would be relegated every spring. Instead, now, the teams that finish in the last three places of this table will pay a fine or penalty. This money will then be used and split up between the teams in the second division.

So how much money are we talking about? Well the team that finishes in dead last has to pay 120 million pesos (approx. 6.3 million dollars), next to last will have to pay 70 million pesos (approx. 3.7 million dollars), and 3rd to last will have to pay 50 million pesos (approx. 2.6 million dollars).

Where does FC Juarez currently sit on the average points accumulated per match table? 3rd to last. So if the season was to end right now the Bravos would be on the hook for 2.6 million dollars.

There is still a chance that the Bravos can avoid the penalty altogether. If they can produce a few wins in the remaining matches, they can increase their points per match average to escape those dreaded final 3 positions of the average points per match table. The problem is that FC Juarez would have to have a significant 180 turnaround to their on-field execution something that seems very far away for the team from the Borderland.