Clausura 2022 in review: From Atlas to censorship
Legendary coach bows out with worst season
For the first time since 1991, Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti will not be seen prowling and snarling on the sidelines.
The curmudgeonly Brazilian is the winningest manager in Liga MX history. “Tuca” has led teams to Liga MX glory on seven occasions (tied with the mythical Ignacio Trelles) while also winning four Liga MX Champions Cups, one Copa MX and one Concacaf Champions League.
Ferretti’s Tigres dominated the last decade, winning five Liga MX titles (Apertura 2011, Apertura 2015, Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017 and Clausura 2019) and finishing as runners-up twice.
But Tigres decided to change course a year ago and “Tuca” opted to take on a new challenge, accepting the head coaching position with FC Juárez, one of the more modest teams in Liga MX.
“Tuca” was unable to effectively install his pragmatic, defensive-oriented style, a style that requires discipline and teamwork. Bravos simply did not have enough talent on hand nor the funds to invest in better players and “Tuca” won just seven of 34 matches. FC Juárez finished the Clausura 2022 dead last with a 3-2-12 record.
Bravos offered to extend Ferretti’s contract another year, but “Tuca” decided he’d had enough.
As if a last-place finish were not enough …
While FC Juárez confirmed its status as the worst team in Liga MX, the situation was compounded by the 80 million-peso fine levied on the club for finishing last in the “Relegation Standings.”
That comes on top of the 50 million-peso “Relegation” fine the franchise forked over after the 2020-2021 term.
In addition, club ownership might also be dinged by a judicial ruling that comes with a $10 million-dollar penalty.
That court case is related to the disputed September 2020 acquisition of the franchise from the previous owners, the public university in Puebla known as BUAP. Then Lobos BUAP team president Mario Mendívil negotiated the sale of the club with FC Juárez owners Alejandra de la Vega and her Texas oilman husband Paul Foster. Essentially, the second-division Bravos won promotion to Liga MX by purchasing the Lobos’ spot within the first division.
However, the university had not given Mendivil the authority to sell the team. He was only authorized to negotiate terms of the sale and was supposed to submit the proposal to the BUAP officials. Mendivil allegedly completed an unauthorized sale and pocketed most of the money.
The court ruled Mendivil and the FC Juárez owners defrauded BUAP and the Bravos are required to pay out the difference to the BUAP.