Atlas defender Rafa Marquez says the current Liga MX Players' Committee is better than nothing, but he would prefer a group not affiliated with Mexican soccer's governing body.
Issues like players not being paid by clubs have been persistent in Liga MX, and the 37-year-old believes that the current setup, with the committee as part of the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol, is one that doesn't serve the best interest of players in need.
"It's doing things well, it's helping because to the people who aren't getting paid, people who are owed money, they're the ones trying to get things and finally they did get paid," Marquez said at a news conference Tuesday. "What isn't good is that they depend on the federation, and that's what we're trying to change, to separate totally from the federation so it can be a group where we're able to govern it and we might have a voice in the league and the federation, not to fight but simply to work with and reach agreements with them."
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Chiapas was the latest team to have issues paying players, and while the status quo is a powerful force in Mexican soccer, players also have expressed frustration with the league's "pacto de caballeros" (gentleman's agreement) where teams still are paid compensation for players that legally are no longer on their books.
"This has to stop," Marquez said of players not receiving wages, "and, like I said, that's why we're in the process of trying to put together something important for the future, that all players can come together without being afraid that they're not going to play, that they're going to be frozen out."
Though rivals on the field, Chivas defender Oswaldo Alanis is in lockstep with Marquez on the issue of an independent players' union.
"It should be working and if you talk with them, they'll tell you they've gotten better, but the majority of the players, we don't see it like that. That's why we're looking for the union, because the idea that we all have is that the Committee is attached to the federation," the center back said. "That's why we're looking for something independent, that might come from the players and not be part of the federation."
The Liga MX Clausura starts Friday. Marquez's Atlas takes the field Sunday with a road trip to Toluca to open its campaign.
