Liga MX Week 3: Guadalajara teams down in dumps

Testing schedule released, transparency urged

Liga MX officials reminded players that their next round of tests will be conducted right before or immediately after their Matchday 4 games.

With the midweek matches coming up (from Aug. 11-13), the tests carried out the past few days will determine eligibility for Games 3 and 4. Next week’s tests will be used ahead of Matchday 5 games coming up the following weekend.

That’s all well-and-good, but a few players are urging Liga MX officials to be more transparent with results and procedures. There have been reports that complaints about symptoms have been ignored or downplayed, potentially putting players and teams at risk.

Before the season started, Toluca defender Fernando Tobio claimed that he told doctors he wasn’t feeling well but he was ordered to practice anyway. Even after he tested positive, he claims, he practiced a few times.

Uriel Antuna became a big talking point after his wife posted a video on social media that showed the Chivas winger struggling with symptoms before and after a team practice. He later tested positive and missed the season opener.

There is also legitimate concern is that some teams are not being forthcoming about positive tests and downplaying asymptomatic cases though some might argue that player privacy is a consideration. When Chivas striker Oribe Peralta was not on the bench for Game 1, reporters were told he had a case of sinusitis. The next day it was revealed he actually had contracted Covid-19.

Such obfuscation can lead to unwarranted speculation. For instance, when “Chofis” López missed the Chivas second game, there were reports that he had the virus, then a “confirmation” that a family member had tested positive. However, the official team report indicates the pudgy playmaker had a leg injury.

Naturally, player health comes first and foremost, and demanding transparency should be done with that in mind and not to earn headlines. A case in point, Cruz Azul defender Julio César Domínguez was admitted to hospital on Tuesday. The team issued a bulletin saying “Cata” has a pulmonary infection and his wife confirmed a diagnosis of pneumonia on Wednesday.

Domínguez was one of the dozen or so Cementeros players who tested positive in July and tests are being conducted to determine the cause of his present distress. He had tested negative before Cruz Azul’s Friday night contest in Puebla and doctors are hoping his illness can be attributed to playing 90 minutes in a heavy downpour. Only last week teammate Rafa Baca who also caught coronavirus in July questioned if the league had a protocol in place for player who tested positive a second time.

Until a diagnosis is made and a prognosis revealed, we’ll simply pray for a quick recovery.