Katia Itzel makes history; she became the tournament's first female referee.

▲ The 32-year-old Mexican referee officiated the match between Curaçao and El Salvador last Tuesday. Photo @kigm14

Erendira Palma Hernández

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, June 19, 2025, p. a11

On a field with 22 players, surrounded by the roar of thousands of fans, the match was this time in the hands of a woman. As another feat in her distinguished career, Mexican Katia Itzel García became the first female referee to officiate a Gold Cup match on Tuesday, which ended in a draw between Curaçao and El Salvador.

All these achievements are not a gift, but a natural reward for all the effort and dedication she has put into her career. She is now our greatest role model , Lucila Venegas, former referee for the Expansion League and former coach of García, proudly noted.

The tricolor team stood out in the match between Curaçao and El Salvador with a clean performance, undeterred by the players' complaints and even showing four yellow cards.

The triplet

In this Gold Cup feat, Katia Itzel was joined by fellow tricolors Sandra Ramírez and Karen Díaz, becoming the first all-female refereeing team to officiate a match in the tournament.

In every decision he makes on the court, García projects determination and authority, reflecting years of work characterized only by discipline and determination to enforce the refereeing rules.

Making history at the Gold Cup is no coincidence. The 32-year-old referee broke with a pattern of over 20 years of exclusion of women from Mexican refereeing, becoming the second female referee to officiate a Liga MX match on March 9, 2024, in the match between Pachuca and Querétaro, after Virginia Tovar.

That match was a turning point for both García's career and his national refereeing career. While other referees such as Lucila Venegas and Quetzalli Alvarado had previously refereed matches in the now-defunct Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League) and now Expansión Mx, García's performance in the First Division highlighted the efforts of her teammates.

The young referee's work also earned her the 2024 National Sports Award in the category of best referee, right in the same generation in which soccer player Charlyn Corral received the award for best professional athlete.

The Liga MX Femenil took six years to establish itself, but it's starting to bear fruit for both players and referees. We have players like Jennifer Hermoso (a world champion with Spain) and quality referees like Katia. Furthermore, Maite Chávez, a former assistant who has worked in the human development of referees, has just joined the Mexican Football Federation. "I think both women's football and refereeing are on the right path ," Venegas emphasized.

Now, with García as a leading figure, Mexico is the country with the most female referees at the Gold Cup, even sending a trio of international elite referees. Flag bearer Karen Díaz was one of the women who participated in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a performance that led her to win the National Sports Award that year, while Sandra Ramírez stands out for her career in Women's World Cups.

In addition to García, CONCACAF has also selected American referee Ekaterina Koroleva for this Gold Cup. She has extensive experience in international women's tournaments, as well as in the Marice Revello tournament, where she officiated in 2022.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, June 19, 2025, p. a12

After overcoming the controversy surrounding timeshare, Pachuca debuted yesterday in the Club World Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Salzburg in a match played at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, which was delayed for more than an hour due to a thunderstorm.

This tournament is the first challenge for coach Jaime Lozano, who only arrived at the Hidalgo team 15 days ago following the departure of Guillermo Almada. The Bella Airosa team, along with Monterrey, are the only Liga MX representatives in this tournament, due to León being excluded by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to sharing ownership with the Tuzos (Pachuca Group).

The Austrian team opened the scoring before the end of the first half with a shot from outside the area by Israeli Oscar Gloukh, who with a cut left Mexican Pedro Pedraza lying and then breached the goal defended by Carlos Moreno (42).

Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal stopped the game early in the second half (54) due to a thunderstorm. Following protocol, both teams returned to the locker rooms and the stands emptied.

After the wait, the teams returned to the field and had a break to warm up. When play resumed, Lozano's team leveled the score with a superb free kick from Bryan González (56). Later, the Austrian team took the lead again with a powerful header from Karim Onisiwo (76).

Xabi Alonso disappoints

Xabi Alonso's tenure with Real Madrid began disappointingly, drawing 1-1 with Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the Merengue team's debut.

In his first match in charge of the 15-time European champions, Alonso was denied victory when Uruguayan Federico Valverde's penalty in stoppage time was saved by Moroccan Yassine Bounou.

▲ Salzburg's Dorgeles Nene battles for the ball with Brayan González, who scored a goal for the Tuzos, but it wasn't enough and they lost 2-1 to the Austrian team. AP Photo

Spaniard Gonzalo García opened the scoring for Madrid in the 34th minute, but the Saudi team equalized with a penalty seven minutes later, when Portuguese player Rubén Neves fooled goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

The Merengues had a golden opportunity to take the win when VAR detected Mohammed Alqahtani's foul on Fran García in the box. Valverde took the shot in the second minute of added time, but his low shot was saved by Bounou.

Alonso's lackluster debut could have been even worse. Brazilian Marcos Leonardo had three chances in front of goal, but failed to convert.

We had a good performance against Madrid, who are one of the strongest teams in the world , stressed Simone Inzaghi, who made his debut as manager of Al Hilal.

At Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Manchester City defeated Moroccan side Wydad 2-0, boosted by goals from Phil Foden and Jérémy Doku. "We played very well at times; this is the first step. We'll learn from it, and in the second (match) we'll be better ," Pep Guardiola told DAZN.

In the final match of the day, Juventus defeated Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates 5-0. The goals for the Old Lady came from Randal Kolo Muani (11 and 45+4), Francisco Conceiçao (21 and 58), and Kenan Yildiz (31). Before the match, players from the Italian side visited President Donald Trump at the White House, along with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

(With information from AP and AFP)

Ap and Editorial

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, June 19, 2025, p. a12

Amid pressure from the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and even investigations against executives for defending the right to a sporting merit award, the Expansion League will hold a general assembly today, where it hopes to be heard by the leaders of the national soccer governing body in order to reestablish promotion and relegation this year.

Tensions rose before the meeting due to the worsening differences between the clubs and the FMF. This was especially due to the investigation the organization opened against Alberto Castellanos, president of Leones Negros de la UdeG, and Giovanni Solazzi, vice president of Cancún FC, who have been the most insistent in defending the possibility of promotion to the First Division based on sporting merit.

Solazzi and Castellanos could receive fines of up to 450,000 pesos, according to AP, simply for being among the most vocal in demanding the right to move up a category.

The federation suspended the traditional promotion and relegation format in 2020 to support First Division teams, which had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, it was stated that the measure would be for only six years, which would expire in 2026.

However, the Expansion League clubs were notified that the format will be reinstated until the 2026/2027 season, and that at least four teams must meet the requirements to obtain certification that accredits the standards to be part of the top flight.

The FMF's refusal to comply with the deadline for restoring promotion and relegation for the 2025/2026 season led to a lawsuit filed by 10 clubs initially before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in May.

Even though Cimarrones, Atlante, Alebrijes and Jaiba Brava withdrew their legal appeal without revealing the reasons, Atlético Morelia, Atlético La Paz, Venados de Yucatán, Mineros de Zacatecas and Cancún FC remained firm in their bid to have the sports award for the best team in the tournament reinstated.

However, the Mexican Football Federation has constantly exerted pressure on the teams and their directors. Just a few days after the lawsuit was confirmed before the CAS, the body chaired by Mikel Arriola cut the monthly subsidy of up to 2 million pesos it had given to the Expansion League teams as compensation for the suspension of promotion and relegation.

We went to the CAS because we're tired of how Mexican soccer is run. It has become a business that only benefits Liga MX teams to the detriment of the entire national soccer network, and where financial gain seems to outweigh passion for the sport , the affected teams responded.

Now, the clubs hope to present their grievances to the FMF at a meeting where other issues are expected to be addressed, such as the tournament schedule and regulations, as well as broadcast rights.

▲ Mexican Marcelo Mayer contributed a home run in the Boston Red Sox's 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners, where his compatriots Randy Arozarena and Rowdy Téllez play. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3, with Spaniard Sergio Ramos pitching the first pitch of the game. AP Photo

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, June 19, 2025, p. a30