Liga MX announced on Friday that Francisco Iturbide will replace Mikel Arriola as the new president of the Mexican top-flight, thereby leaving Arriola as commissioner of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) after he recently held both roles.
“I want to thank the commissioner of the Mexican Football Federation for his trust and appointment. I arrived 11 years ago as an intern at this institution and was convinced that with work, patience, and dedication, you can achieve your dreams,” said Iturbide in his first words as president in a press release. “It is a great honor to represent the league in this new era.”
With Iturbide in charge, Liga MX is now moving past the leadership of Arriola, who had been in charge since 2020. The hiring also now once again makes the league independent from the FMF after Arriola was given the dual-role of league president and federation president when he was initially given an interim role at the FMF last summer.
Iturbide, a former academy player for Club America that went on to have a place with second division side Alebrijes de Oaxaca, will now oversee a league that is going through changes with new American/foreign investment, centralization, and a move away from promotion/relegation.
Over the summer, the Mexican top-flight made headlines after their regulations revealed that “clubs comprising Liga MX will not be relegated to Expansion MX, and likewise, Expansion MX clubs will not be promoted to Liga MX,” which goes against a ruling from the Court of Arbitration of Sport last September for pro/rel to return.
