On occasion, due to date arrangements and coincidence of months, it is practically inevitable for relevant sporting events to overlap with different electoral processes in Mexico.
In particular, football is the sport that has often overlapped with key moments of electoral processes in our country.
The National Electoral Institute (INE) has already expressed its interest in meeting with authorities of the Mexican Football Federation with the aim of overlapping the final of the Clausura 2018 tournament of the Liga MX with the second presidential debate, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 20, at 8:00 p.m.
In relation to this, we present some of the cases in which football has become a headache for the electoral authorities of our country.
July 2, 2000
On July 2, 2000, the Presidential Elections of that year were held to choose Ernesto Zedillo's successor. On the same day, the Final of the Euro Cup in Holland-Belgium was played, where France defeated Italy 2-1 in extra time.
Despite the attractive match between the World Champion and the 'Azzurra', 63.7% of the electorate went to the polls to cast their vote. This election was historic because for the first time the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was not elected president.
France, winner of EURO 2000 (Photo: AFP)
July 2, 2006
Exactly six years later, on July 2, 2006, new Presidential Elections were held, which generated great expectation due to the contest between Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Felipe Calderón.
Although the process overlapped with the 2006 World Cup in Germany, there was no World Cup match on that Sunday, as the Quarterfinal stage had ended the day before, so there was no external distraction in that regard. The election was the only topic.
Electoral day, 2006 (Photo: Cuartoscuro)
May 6, 2012
On May 6, 2012, the first debate between the candidates for the presidency of Mexico took place; however, the event coincided with two quarterfinal matches of the Liga MX Clausura 2012.
The first match of that afternoon on May 6, 2012, was played at 6:00 p.m., where Santos and Jaguares clashed. However, the match that overlapped with the debate was between Monarcas and Tigres, which was held at 8:00 p.m.
For the second debate, which took place on June 10, the IFE (now INE) released commercials to invite people to watch the event between the candidates. On that day, the matches Spain-Italy and Ireland-Croatia, corresponding to the Group Stage of Euro 2012, were played, although they were played several hours earlier.
Presidential debate, 2012 (Photo: EFE)
July 1, 2012
Three weeks later, just like in 2000, the presidential elections overlapped with the Final of the Euro Cup.
At 1:45 p.m., which was the time the Europe title match between the 'Furia Roja' and the 'Azurra' started, millions of people throughout Mexico were going to the polling stations to cast their votes. According to the measurements, 63.14% of the electorate attended the polls.
Spain, Champion of EURO 2012 (Photo: AFP)
June 7, 2015
Three years later, the same thing happened again, but this time with a friendly match between the Mexican national team and Brazil, prior to the 2015 Copa America in Chile.
On July 7, 2015, the match of the Mexican national team took place at 1:45 p.m., when the federal elections of that year were taking place.
Brazil vs. Mexico in June 2015 (Photo: Imago7)
June 5, 2016
One year later, Mexico made its debut in the Copa America Centenario on Sunday, July 5, the same day as the elections to renew the governorships in 12 states of the Republic. That afternoon, the national team defeated Uruguay 3-1 in Phoenix.
Electoral day, June 5, 2016 (Photo: Cuartoscuro)