Liga MX Apertura 2019: Matchday 14 of the Mexican tournament could be suspended due to Veracruz situation [PHOTOS]

A handful of Mexican soccer players and coaches expressed their support on Thursday for the players of the Veracruz team in the top division, who are going through difficult times amid a crisis of unpaid wages that has led them to threaten to stop their match of the 14th round of the Apertura tournament.

According to Álvaro Ortiz, president of the Mexican Association of Professional Footballers (AMFPRO), players from the first team have reported that some have gone up to six months without receiving their salaries, while others have had to withdraw their children from school or find a new home because they cannot pay their bills. They have decided not to play the match against the champion Tigres, scheduled to be held at the Luis "Pirata" Fuente stadium in the Mexican port city.

"Now we are on this side and we are fortunate, but at any moment you could be on the other side and what you want is for your co-workers to support you, and that's what we are going to do, we are going to support the decision they make, if they decide not to play, we support them because it is time to show that we are united," said Chivas midfielder Isaac Brizuela. "It would be the best (to stop), it has to be a strong agreement that stops the league and these problems can be solved."

The president of the Mexican league, Enrique Bonilla, said that they cannot financially support the players because they have not received an official complaint and warned that if the team does not show up for the match, they would be relegated to the second division.

"How can we demand a better league and at the same time ask for intervention when there is no documentary support for the alleged debt? With what basis can we act when there are only verbal versions from those involved?" Bonilla said in a statement issued on Thursday. "As a league, we need to strengthen internal channels to address these cases, spaces that have proven their effectiveness over the years. In the last 16 years, no player has been left without receiving their wages and this should not be the exception, but it requires handling the complaints not through the media or social networks, but through the channels we have created."

"In my country, football would have already been stopped, it is the moment, if they want to create unity, it is the moment because there are fellow professionals who are not doing well, it is time to provide support," said Uruguayan Cruz Azul coach Robert Dante Siboldi. "There are 18 teams that are up to date, so it is difficult to do anything when you don't owe anything, but no one is exempt from going through a difficult situation, so we have to provide support."

Local media have speculated that the league could be halted this weekend, a motion that has not been mentioned so far by the leader of the AMFPRO, who hopes that everything will be resolved in the hours before the match against Tigres.

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