After days of keeping us waiting, Liga MX and Cruz Azul finally released a joint statement regarding the incident involving Cata Dominguez. From this statement we can take … absolutely nothing! Essentially the statement just talks about the actions that Cruz Azul has taken since the incident. It mentions that they were behind the Dominguez apology. Which, essentially voids the whole purpose of the apology. We know that a lot of times when public figures mess up they’re forced to apologize by their employers. To have that employer come out and admit that they forced their employee into an apology is awkward on so many levels.
In the joint statement Cruz Azul continues to pat itself on the back stating that they immediately removed Cata Dominguez from the active roster that could face Tijuana. What we don’t get either from the team or the league are the steps that they’re going to take moving forward. At this point we don’t know if Dominguez is going to be available to play for Cruz Azul this weekend. Overall it’s just a weak statement, and we’re going to try and decipher what the next step is in this whole ordeal.
The Media Pressure Forced The Publication Of This Statement
This seems to clearly be exactly what happened. For days since the pictures came up on social media, the public and the mainstream media in Mexico have been calling for some sort of reaction from either Liga MX or Cruz Azul. We said yesterday that Cruz Azul seemed to be waiting on the league to make their statement. What we expected though, was a statement that would include an official punishment for the player. Today that’s not what we got.
We’re not necessarily saying that we’re disappointed by the fact that Dominguez was not punished. We are disappointed by the fact that there’s no clarity on whether or not he will be disciplined. As we mentioned Cruz Azul padded themselves on the back saying they removed him from the active roster that would face Tijuana. This statement today doesn’t say what the league or the team are going to do with him moving forward.
Mensaje a la opinión pública. pic.twitter.com/B7XV68vxmk
— CRUZ AZUL (@CruzAzul) January 10, 2023
Ways That This Could’ve Been Handled Much Better
The league, Cruz Azul or both could’ve released a statement when the pictures blew up on social media. For example, the team could’ve said Dominguez will not be part of the squad for the upcoming game against Tijuana, and we’re looking into this issue. A statement like that over the weekend could’ve taken the pressure off of the team a bit. Ultimately it could’ve prevented exactly what we got today. A vague statement that really doesn’t do much to reveal what the player’s situation is going to be moving forward. Cruz Azul, though, can’t even file papers in time to get free money for their players at the World Cup or to have new signings play the first week of the season. So expecting those same people to get ahead of a PR disaster is wishful thinking!
Mensaje de Julio César Domínguez a la opinión pública: pic.twitter.com/USjYXyg6Nt
— CRUZ AZUL (@CruzAzul) January 10, 2023
Cruz Azul In The Market For A Center Back?
Cata Dominguez now issued a public apology, and it looks like he’s going to be with the team moving forward. In the video in which he released his public apology he is wearing team colors. There had been speculation that the team would be in the market for a center back if things continued to spiral downward with Dominguez. The problem is they have no more room for foreign players on the roster. So they would have to bring in a Mexican player. They already scraped the bottom of the barrel to bring back Jordan Silva. It’s unlikely that they’ll find another option. So Dominguez will stay, but it’s not clear when he’ll be eligible to play!
