Irapuato receives invitation to play in the Expansion League
Assembly rejects sales and moves
Irapuato receives invitation to play in the Expansion League
▲ Irapuato, one of the teams with a long tradition, didn't fully celebrate the proposal due to a legal dispute. Photo @clubirapuato_
Erendira Palma Hernández
La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 20, 2025, p. a12
Irapuato, one of the most traditional teams in Mexican soccer, has the possibility of leaving the Premier League (Third Division) and playing by invitation only in the Liga de Expansión MX; however, the announcement is uncertain because Selomith Ramírez, owner and principal investor of Trinca, is reportedly facing a dispute with Club Deportivo Irapuato AC, owner of the team's brand.
While a tense situation was expected at the Liga de Expansión meeting due to the differences that have arisen between club owners and tournament officials, as well as the Mexican Football Federation over the suspension of promotion and relegation, the meeting also sparked other controversies involving the so-called silver circuit and the Premier League, which often suffer from financial issues.
Although Aguacateros de Peribán, the Premier League champions, was denied promotion, the Liga de Expansión confirmed that Irapuato would play as a guest in that tournament. However, as of press time, the Trinca had not issued any message regarding this privilege.
The reason there had been no celebration until then was that Ramírez, owner of the company Healthy People and who had been in charge of the Trinca project since 2023, had not complied with the agreed payments for the use of the brand, colors, crest and the Sergio León Chávez stadium, so Club Deportivo Irapuato AC would have terminated the contract in August 2024. Thus, the team would not have a venue to play in.
Juan Manuel Albo, president of Club Deportivo Irapuato AC, told the Sol de Irapuato newspaper that the team was allowed to continue this past season so as not to affect the project, and that they reached the Premier League final, which they lost to Aguacateros.
In 2018, Club Deportivo Irapuato AC registered a new trademark representative for the Trinca team with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property in the name of Juan Manuel Albo. In 2023, the association registered a license for Healthy People, owned by Selomith Ramírez, which would be valid for 10 years, provided both parties fulfilled the contract obligations, which included license fees.
La Jornada contacted Tania Lara, Healthy People's legal representative; however, the litigant stated that she could not comment on the situation at the facility at this time.
Meanwhile, the Cimarrones team hoped to sell the franchise to Tampico Madero, while Celaya sought to relocate as a new team to Veracruz. However, the Liga MX assembly rejected these moves with eight votes against and six in favor.
Thus, Jaiba Brava de Tampico Madero will remain as a guest club in the Expansion League, although it will not have a voice or vote in the assemblies. Given this situation, both Cimarrones and Celaya requested that their cases be reviewed by the Mexican Football Federation assembly, which could approve the purchase of the Sonora franchise, as well as the relocation of the Toros.
Among the teams that voted against the decision were the six teams—Leones Negros, Cancún, Atlético Morelia, Atlético La Paz, Venados de Yucatán, and Mineros de Zacatecas—that are pursuing a lawsuit against the Mexican Football Federation before the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the suspension of promotion and relegation. Cimarrones and Jaiba Brava were among the four teams that withdrew from the legal dispute.
The meeting also agreed on the certification process to meet the requirements for promotion to the First Division, which will begin in June and end in September. To be eligible for promotion, at least four teams must meet this requirement, and for now, only Atlante and Leones Negros have met this requirement.
From the Editorial Staff
La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 20, 2025, p. a12
The American company Fox Corporation has purchased the streaming channel Caliente TV, owned by Mexican Jorge Alberto Hank, which holds the rights to some European Champions League matches for broadcast in Mexico.
With this acquisition, Fox will develop a multiplatform business that will include the launch of a new pay-TV channel and platform, which will join Tubi
, the company said in a statement confirming the purchase.
In this way, the company obtained the broadcast rights in Mexico for the Champions League , one of the tournaments with the greatest reach in the world, and for the time being will share the license in the 2025-2026 season with HBO's Max platform and TNT Sports.
In addition to the European tournament, the agreement also granted broadcast rights to six Liga MX clubs – Pachuca, León, Xolos, Querétaro, Tigres, and Ciudad Juárez – as well as 10 women's tournaments – Chivas, León, Pachuca, Tijuana, Juárez, Querétaro, Atlas, Santos, Puebla, and Mazatlán.
Fox Corporation's new lineup also includes the English Premier League, France's Ligue 1, the Italian Cup, the Concacaf Champions League , and NASCAR.
Caliente TV was created approximately a year ago and gained significant momentum as a streaming platform by becoming part of Grupo Caliente, which owns the betting house of the same name, as well as the Tijuana, Querétaro, and Dorados clubs.
With the acquisition, Fox Corporation, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, returns to the Mexican sports entertainment industry after suing Fox Sports Mx, which belongs to Grupo Lauman, for non-payment of license fees.
The legal dispute even forced Fox Corporation to broadcast Pachuca and León matches from the recent Liga MX season on the Tubi platform.
At this time, the company has not indicated whether it will charge for subscriptions to Tubi, which has so far been one of the few streaming platforms offering free sports entertainment.
“Fox’s investment to acquire Caliente TV reflects our commitment to building a leading sports streaming business in Mexico with massive audience reach, a robust sports rights portfolio, and an impressive roster of exclusive leagues and talent,” said Carlos Martínez, executive vice president and general manager for Latin America at Fox Corporation.
Alcaraz advances and Sinner is eliminated
AFP
La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 20, 2025, p. a12
London. World number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain had a tough match yesterday on the Queen's lawn, but managed to beat his compatriot Jaume Munar (59) and reach the quarterfinals of the London tournament.
With this victory, Alcaraz set a career-high of 15 consecutive victories on the ATP Tour, a series that includes his clay-court titles in Rome and the Paris Grand Slam .
The duel was marked by an intense pace in which the Roland Garros champion battled against an opponent who was not intimidated by the Murcian's name and was aggressive in the exchanges.
"It was a very tough battle. Jaume is a great competitor, and I think he showed how difficult it is to beat him
," Alcaraz said.
His next opponent will be Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (80), who eliminated American Reilly Opelka 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
Bublik surprises
On the other hand, the current champion of the ATP 500 in Halle, the Italian Jannik Sinner, world number one, was eliminated 6-3, 3-6 and 4-6 to general surprise by the Kazakh Alexander Bublik (45), in the second round of the tournament.
Sinner, 23, was playing in his first tournament in Germany since his five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland Garros final in early June, and had not lost to a player ranked below the top 20 since 2023.
We're tennis players, and we try to win every match we play, but this one is special
, Bublik admitted. I've never beaten a world number one, so it's a huge achievement for me
.
Meanwhile, German Alexander Zverev came out ahead despite the resistance of Italian Lorenzo Sonego (46) to reach the quarterfinals.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, American Coco Gauff, world number two, lost in her return to the Berlin Open by a double 6-3 against China's Wang Xinyu (49).
Winner of 10 major tour titles, Gauff has yet to win a grass-court tournament.
Defeated by Gauff in the Roland Garros final, world number one Aryna Sabalenka also triumphed hours earlier in her return to the circuit. The Belarusian defeated Swiss Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
▲ The San Francisco and Los Angeles benches erupted in a brawl after Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit with the ball. Photo by AFP
Ap
La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 20, 2025, p. a33
Los Angeles., Xander Bogaerts homered among his four hits and scored three runs, and the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 last night to avoid a four-game sweep.
The game began in a tense atmosphere after the Los Angeles team, the reigning Major League Baseball champion, asked a group of federal immigration agents to leave the stadium grounds after approaching one of the parking lot gates.
After the officers left, the game went ahead as scheduled; however, tempers flared on the field in the final stretch after Dodgers right-hander Jack Little, making his major league debut yesterday, hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch in the ninth inning. Both benches emptied behind home plate , but no punches were thrown. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Padres manager Mike Shildt were ejected.
In the Padres' at-bat, reliever Robert Suárez hit Japanese pitcher Shohei Ohtani with a pitch in the bottom of the ninth and was also ejected. Tatis and Ohtani were each hit by pitches twice in the series.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-6) allowed three runs and seven hits in six and a third innings as Los Angeles snapped a five-game winning streak.
Bogaerts gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his fourth home run and first since May 14. They took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. José Iglesias hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Cronenworth hit an RBI double in the seventh. Gavin Sheets added an RBI single, and Iglesias drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-0 in the eighth.
The home team scored three runs in the ninth inning before rookie Dalton Rushing struck out Yuki Matsui, earning his first save of the season.
Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt hit consecutive home runs in the second inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 to end their six-game losing streak.
The AL East-leading Yankees ended their longest losing streak since a nine-game skid in August 2023.
Nolan Arenado hit his 350th home run in the third inning and drove in the go-ahead run in the tenth as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago White Sox 8-6.
Sultanes win the series against Diablos
In Mexican Baseball League action, the Diablos Rojos del México fell 8-7 to the Sultanes de Monterrey in the third game between the two teams, which took place at the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium, with the Monterrey team winning the series 2-1.
With information from the Editorial Staff
Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers beat the Thunder 108-91, forcing the seventh game.
AFP
La Jornada Newspaper, Friday, June 20, 2025, p. a33
Los Angeles, The Indiana Pacers crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 yesterday, forcing a seventh and final game in the NBA Finals, which will be played on Sunday.
Tyrese Haliburton (14 points) overcame his muscle problems to lead this heroic victory in Indianapolis against the worst version of the Thunder and its leader, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (21).
We had our backs against the wall and we responded
, Haliburton said after a victory that tied the tie at 3-3 on aggregate in this exciting tie.
The NBA title will be decided in a Game 7 for the first time since LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers' historic 2016 victory over Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors.
While they still have some work to do, these Pacers have already staged a series of improbable comebacks in these playoffs .
They went into yesterday's match, their first life-or-death encounter, with their morale low due to their last two consecutive defeats and their leader's physical limitations, so they opted for a risky strategy that worked perfectly for them.
▲ Mathurin's block shows the fierce battle that raged under the boards at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. AP Photo
Their experienced coach, Rick Carlisle, ordered the Thunder to bombard the court from the outside line and his players responded by sinking 15 of 42 three-point attempts.
The other pillar of the home team's performance was their stirring defensive effort, fueled by the electric atmosphere at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which short-circuited the attack led by Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Canadian point guard, the season's MVP, committed eight turnovers, tying his career high, and dished out just two assists.
Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were held to 16 points and four and are forced to react in the decisive match in which the Thunder, the undisputed favorites at the start of the finals, will carry all the pressure.
jornada
