The Mexican Senate has taken a step toward reintroducing promotion and relegation in the top-tier Mexican soccer league, Liga MX, reigniting a long-standing debate over the absence of this system. Senator Clemente Castañeda, from the Movimiento Ciudadano party, proposed a legislative reform to legally mandate the return of promotion and relegation, a system where teams can move up or down between leagues based on their performance. The proposal has support from other political leaders, including Ignacio Mier from the ruling Morena party. Castañeda emphasized the reform's goal of ensuring that sports associations prioritize merit in their operations. However, the initiative faced resistance from key figures in Mexican football, as the president of Liga MX, Francisco Iturbide, and the Mexican football commissioner, Mikel Arriola, declined to engage with the proposal. The Mexican Football Federation has not yet responded to requests for comment. Promotion and relegation were officially suspended in April 2020 due to financial instability in second-division clubs, worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the system was set to be reinstated after five years, with the last chance for promotion and relegation scheduled for the 2023 season. However, this never happened. In response, several second-division clubs began protesting, arguing that the agreement should be honored. The Mexican Football Federation claimed that the system could not be restored because of ongoing economic challenges. Alberto Castellanos, president of U. de G., one of the protesting teams, criticized the decision, saying the pandemic was used as an excuse to permanently eliminate promotion and relegation. Liga MX has imposed strict requirements for second-division teams hoping to move up, such as a stadium capacity of 30,000 seats, a standard not even met by some first-division teams. This has affected new investors, such as the group that acquired Cancún FC in 2022. The team's president, Giovani Solazzi, noted that the lack of promotion has led to a lack of competition and mediocrity. In response to pressure from some second-division owners, Liga MX removed the promotion and relegation system from its regulations this year, without providing a clear explanation. Despite the controversy, some powerful figures in Mexican soccer support the return of promotion and relegation, provided the necessary conditions are met. The owner of Club América, one of the country's most influential clubs, said he favors the system, acknowledging that other countries like Spain and England have strong second divisions, which Mexico has yet to build. After the official removal of promotion, protests erupted during second-division matches, with players refusing to play aggressively and fans wearing protest shirts. The National Antitrust Commission (CNA) has also launched an investigation into possible monopolistic practices in the Mexican league due to the absence of promotion and relegation.