Over the weekend, FIFA had to make a difficult decision: whether or not to remove the status of hosting the Soccer World Cup from the State of Nuevo León. The reason: Governor Samuel García insists on painting everything orange—the color of his Citizen Movement party—and that contravenes commercial contracts with FIFA.
A few days before having to make that difficult decision, the closest thing to a breakup occurred: in a phone call, Governor Samuel García ended up shouting with the FIFA representative in Mexico, Jürgen Mainka.
Removing Nuevo León’s host status, a few days before the World Cup, created a monumental logistical challenge for FIFA. It did not imply withdrawing the parties from Monterrey, but it would have required reorganizing the coordination for issues of security, operation, mobility, etc., to remove Samuel García’s government from the game and maintain cooperation with the municipality of Monterrey and with the federation.
It would be a brutal blow to the image of Samuel García and his wife, the influencer and businesswoman Mariana Rodríguez, who aspires to be governor. For this reason, President Sheinbaum welcomed the possibility of FIFA taking action against Samuel. It would be capitalizable by Morena in a State contest in which it is not easy at all.
The lawsuit was not last minute. It is a relationship that gradually caught fire due to the governor’s intemperate personality and his electoral urgency, which was added to the iron rules of a FIFA accustomed to eating the whole cake:
First, Nuevo León was the last headquarters in Mexico to sign the agreement between the state government and Host City. This was because FIFA had privately promised Nuevo León that it would receive a high-profile team. The governor felt that he had arranged for the Netherlands team (orange uniform, unbeatable electoral profit) to play its games in Nuevo León. It didn’t happen. There was the first hint of a breakup. If FIFA did not fulfill its promise, the governor announced, then he would not invest what was promised either. In the end, he did invest and FIFA only lined up one Netherlands match in the round of 32 to be played in Monterrey (assuming, which is not too much to assume, that they qualify first in their group).
Second, FIFA did not like the agreement between the Government of Nuevo León and 110 companies in the “Ponte Nuevo Ponte Mundial” program to adapt infrastructure, improve environments, recover public spaces, and recruit volunteers. Why didn’t FIFA like it?
Because nothing comes from the money that the World Cup uses and because brands that are not official sponsors of FIFA entered and that caused anger with those that do pay millions in exclusive rights.
Third, the governor built a large park adjacent to the stadium and there was also a clash of brands that even wanted to give away drinks and food. FIFA jumped because they guarantee their sponsors the brand protection scheme that includes that in an area surrounding the stadiums there are no other brands other than the official sponsors. The park is inside the restriction zone.
The final straw was the FIFA Fan Fest. The headquarters will be the emblematic Parque Fundidora, property of the Government, it has brand protection, the entire image must be in accordance with FIFA and the governor insisted that everything be orange.
According to the first-level sources on which this column is based, the governor and FIFA showed mutual patience. Between a governor who felt rejected despite public investment and a FIFA that ran into a politician who wanted to get electoral results in every area of the World Cup. The matter escalated into shouting. But in the end they made up.
carlosloret@yahoo.com.mx
