THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Mexico broke all ties with CONMEBOL and cancelled its participation in Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and Copa America, Mexican soccer federation president Justino Compean said late Friday.
Mexican football clubs Chivas Guadalajara and San Luis withdrew from the Copa Libertadores on Friday after their round of 16 opponents from South America declined to play in Mexico following the H1N1 flu outbreak.
Compean told a news conference that his organization had an agreement with CONMEBOL that would give Mexico five spots in next year’s Libertadores instead of three to make up for this tournament.
However, CONMEBOL, the federation that oversees South American soccer, later announced the matches were going to be played only in Brazil and Uruguay and never mentioned the previous agreement, Compean said.
"As president of the FMF, I would like to announce that Mexican football will withdraw completely from all CONMEBOL competition until we reach an agreement," Compean said. "If we want to compete, it has to be as equals. ‘Fair play’ must prevail."
Compean didn’t rule out negotiations on a return to CONMEBOL competition, but said Mexico must be treated "with unconditional respect."
"If we participate again, great, but if not, there’s plenty of activity (in Mexican football)," he said. "The ball is in their court now. For us, the game is over."
The announcements came after Nacional of Uruguay and Sao Paulo of Brazil told CONMEBOL they would not travel to Mexico for the start of the home-and-away knockout stage.
Seen as a decision forced on Mexican officials, the withdrawal of the pair immediately stirred anger in Mexico, with one club official saying the South Americans’ refusal to visit bordered on "racism."
The move came just a day after Mexican football and health authorities decided to reopen their stadiums to fans.
There was one exception when the stadium in Guadalajara where Chivas plays was ordered closed to fans this weekend after the deaths of three people in the region were linked to swine flu.
"We are advising CONMEBOL that we are not going to participate," Compean said earlier. "We don’t accept playing just one game, and we don’t accept changing the venue. The only thing we accept is following the rules."
All 176 Mexican pro matches — first division to third division — were closed to fans last weekend. They are to reopen this weekend with the capacity limited to 50 per cent.
The swine flu outbreak is blamed in the deaths of 45 in Mexico.