Mexico cancels soccer season because of coronavirus

The deadly disease of coronavirus has forced another professional sports league to cancel its season. According to the Canadian Press on Saturday, Liga MX (the professional men’s and women’s soccer league in Mexico) will not be completed in 2020.

The Torneo Clausura (the second half of the Mexican professional men’s soccer league) began on January 10. However due to coronavirus, the league was stopped on March 15. When it was declared that the remainder of the season had been canceled, it was announced that there would be no Clausura champion in 2020 either.

Cruz Azul led the Torneo Clausura standings with 22 points as they had a record of seven wins, two losses, and one draw. Cruz Azul had one more point in the standings than Leon, who was in second place with 21 points. Cruz Azul forward Jonathan Rodriguez of Florida, Uruguay led the Torneo Clausura with nine goals. He had one more goal than Toluca attacking midfielder Leonardo Fernandez, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon striker Andre-Pierre Gignac of Martigues, France, and Leon winger Angel Mena of Guayaquil, Ecuador, who each had eight goals.

One must realize however that there are two champions in Liga MX every year. The Torneo Clausura champion follows the Torneo Apertura champion. The Torneo Apertura season took place from July 19, 2019 to December 15, 2019 with Santos Laguna being the champion. Santos Laguna had a record of 11 wins, three losses and four draws for 37 points. They had four more points than second place Leon.

Two players led the Apertura in scoring in 2019-20. They were Guadalajara striker Alan Pulido of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, and Necaxa striker Mauro Quiroga of Concepcion, Argentina, who each had 12 goals. Pulido now plays for Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer.

In women’s action, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and Atlas were the Torneo Clausura leaders at the time of the coronavirus shutdown as they each had 22 points. Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon had a record of seven wins and one draw, while Atlas had a record of seven wins, one draw, and one loss. Mexicans Stephany Mayor of Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Fabiola Ibarra of Atlas, Desiree Monsivais of Monterrey and Viridiana Salazar of Pachuca each had six goals to lead the Clausura.

Monterrey won the Torneo Apertura for women’s soccer. They had a record of 16 wins and two losses for 48 points. Monsivais and Salazar led the Torneo Apertura with 17 goals each.

There are currently 68,620 cases of coronavirus in Mexico. There are also 7,394 deaths.