• Join Soc Takes for a USL Championship virtual slideshow via Zoom on May 31 at 7 p.m. ET displaying the work of staff photographer Robbie Mehling. Mehling, an Indy Eleven supporter based in central Indiana, has traveled to numerous venues across the league to shoot matches over the past…
• We’re extremely pleased to announce that The Soccer Tavern has partnered with us to help expand our video content at SocTakes.com. For the occasion, The Soccer Tavern produced the short video above about our work and staff. Give it a watch to learn more about our website and the…
• Co-hosts John Lenard and Ian Foster run down the exciting proofs of concept happening between American and Canadian soccer. But first, they quickly hit on a couple of frustrating developments from USL Chicago and D.C. United. Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click…
• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Feb. 8, 2019) — Front Porch Discourse has formed a new partnership with Soc Takes, and has joined the Beautiful Game Network (BGN) as well. Run by co-hosts Ian Foster, John Lenard and R.P. Kirtland, Front Porch Discourse — formerly known as Front Porch Soccer —…
• Chattanooga FC co-founder and president Sheldon Grizzle joins co-hosts Jason Davis and Nipun Chopra to discuss the team’s recent decision to open the club up to fan ownership. The move has already proven wildly successful as the team prepares for its first season in the professional ranks as a…
• Congratulations to savvy manager Tod Modisette for defending his spring title in Soc Takes’ MLS Fantasy league by finishing first in the fall season as well. His Boycottamo V squad beat out the other 108 competitors en route to the fall title. Modisette also showed incredibly well in the…
• You might notice things quieting down at our website over the next couple weeks. Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere; our content is. The 12 Days of Giftmas are here. To celebrate the holidays with our patrons, we’ll be publishing just about all our content — at least one…
• Episode 10 of Lower League America focuses on a club dripping with success in the Midwest, Louisville City FC. After first taking the pitch in 2015, the team has already reached the USL Championship summit — and remained there — by hoisting back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. Co-hosts…
• In honor of Patreon‘s official #ThankYouPatrons Day, and because we love our patrons so freakin’ much, we’d like to personally thank each and every one of our Patreon supporters: Alex A. Andrew B. Andrew F. Andy H. Beau D. Ben F. Bilal S. Bradley W. Brandon E. Brandon H….
• FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WESTFIELD, Ind. (Nov. 15, 2018) — A new soccer-themed television show will soon invade digital platforms and Indiana airwaves. Soc Takes and the ISC Sports Network have joined forces to launch “Soc Takes TV,” an all-soccer television program presented by Sogility that will cover the sport nationally…
• Co-hosts Nipun Chopra and Jason Davis are joined by The Athletic’s Miki Turner for Episode 9 of Lower League America. The panel updates the status of all the lawsuits currently hovering over the American soccer landscape. You can watch Episodes 1-8 below: Related: Lower League America: The Premiere Related: Lower League…
• Lower League America returns with Episode 8 covering the USL playoffs, as both the Eastern and Western Conference finals will kick off this weekend. New York Red Bulls II will visit Louisville City FC on Friday night, while Orange County SC will host Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday. The…

• INDIANAPOLIS — Strikes from Nick Moon, Tyler Pasher, Drew Conner and Matt Watson carried the Indy Eleven to a convincing 4-1 victory over Hartford Athletic on Wednesday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Other notable performers included Alex Dixon, who scored the lone goal for the visitors, and Karl Ouimette, who…
• Join Soc Takes for a USL Championship virtual slideshow via Zoom on May 31 at 7 p.m. ET displaying the work of staff photographer Robbie Mehling. Mehling, an Indy Eleven supporter based in central Indiana, has traveled to numerous venues across the league to shoot matches over the past…
• The lower divisions of professional soccer can be an unforgiving place for owners. As Soc Takes has discussed before, owners constantly lose money in the pro leagues, and it doesn’t seem as though that will change anytime soon. Unfortunately, it is usually the players and staff who often face…
• HARTFORD, Conn. — Hartford Athletic played their first-ever match at Dillon Stadium on Saturday, taking out the visiting Indy Eleven 2-1 in the process. The hosts jumped out to a 2-nil lead on second-half strikes by Jose Angulo and Wojciech Wojcik before Indy pulled one back late from the…
• INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday was the first home game of the season for the Indy Eleven, playing against the Hartford Athletic. Although a rainy day, it wasn’t enough to deter the record-breaking crowd that attended the match. A total of 20,251 tickets were sold for the game, the most in…
• INDIANAPOLIS — On a night the Indy Eleven upped their franchise attendance record to 20,215 at Lucas Oil Stadium, they also took out the Hartford Athletic 1-0 to grab three points in their home opener. Indy struck the woodwork numerous times in the match, but an own goal by…
• Welcome back to the 2019 USL mega preview covering every single one of the 36 teams contesting the 2019 USL Championship season. The first two installments, covering the teams in the Western Conference, are already live. Click here for Part I and here for Part II. This time, we’re…

Image credit: Pumas

During International Women’s Day weekend, Record.com columnist Ignacio “Fantasma” Suarez published a story about a first-division player involved in a sexual scandal.

Despite the damaging and compelling testimony from the victim, the institution that represents the player, Pumas, denied every single part of the column in a press release.

However, the next day Suarez validated the testimony of the victim, whom he called Valentina, and exposed point by point the evidence of the alleged crime that has been swept under the rug by a first division Mexican team.

The story is about Marco Garcia, a talented midfielder who became a pillar of the 2020 Pumas side in just four weeks.

Known as “La Joya” (“The Jewel”), Garcia scored in the first minute of his debut in the Liga MX.

Garcia was part of Pumas’ academy when Valentina worked in the Coordination of Organizational Development, a branch that stimulated the high school efficiency for youth players.

During class, Valentina noticed that Garcia was taking, sharing and saving pictures of her without any consent, action punishable by the Penalty Code of up to one to three years in jail.

The evidence was so overwhelming that even Garcia’s face was present in the pictures. In his column, Suarez posted one of the many images taken by the footballer.

Valentina went to see her superiors; she talked to first-division coach David Patiño, but found no resolution. Human resources kept Garcia’s phone, promising her to take care of the offense.

But nothing happened. The event was treated as a “boys will be boys” situation — an innocent mistake made by a 17-year-old.

Even when high-ranking members knew about the problem, HR deleted the evidence and gave the phone back to Garcia.

Valentina never received the written record that demonstrated the offense made by the player, but they assured her that Garcia would face a two-week suspension.

Two male professors relieved Valentina, and the actions of Garcia were minimized. And when Garcia reached the first team, Pumas fired her.  

After Ignacio “Fantasma” Suarez denounced the actions taken by Club Universidad, Pumas issued a statement (translated):

“In September 2017, Marco Garcia, 17, was denounced for taking inappropriate pictures of the tutor of the online education program launched by the Club Universidad.”

In the first paragraph, Pumas is admitting that the player indeed committed a crime. They are minimizing his actions by showing Garcia’s age at the time.

“As demonstrated in the newspaper’s articles, the Management Department, through HR, supported the victim and investigated the case. After a dialogue between both parties, they established that the institution wouldn’t fire the player. At the victim’s petition, there would be a two-month suspension without salary and any professional activity, granting the pardon.”

Here is the messy part. According to the testimony, there was no support for Valentina. They deleted the evidence, and her only card left was the written record that she never signed, nor received. But the evidence resurfaced recently, and Suarez, with the consent of Valentina, used a picture in his column.

The press release affirmed that there was a pardon in exchange for a sanction. Pardoning a crime can just be done in front of the authority. In some sketchy deals, it comes with formal documents. There’s always evidence. In this case, if Pumas can’t show something formal, they could be accused of covering up a crime.

As Valentina told Suarez, she had a meeting with Garcia and his dad. In the column, she stated that both Garcias challenged her with words and despot looks. However, the institution could argue the word-against-word principle. Not with the pardon.

Club Universidad assured that they have a resignation letter from Valentina, which has a date of November 2018.

According to the story, Articles 47 and 50 of the Mexican Federal Work Law and the amount of money she received, Pumas fired Valentina. She received three months liquidation, plus another 20 days of every year worked at the club.

Specifically, the law dictates that those measures take place when the employer finishes the relation with the employee. In case both parts agree not to continue with the commitment, there’s an acquaintance. And the mathematical operation to obtain the acquaintance is different than the liquidation.

In both terms, the employer needs to address every detail to the employee, and notify him or her by granting evidence of the situation.

Public opinion of the handling of the incident was so poor that the new president of Pumas, Leopoldo Silva, reopened the investigation and separated Marco Garcia from the first team for an undefined time.

If the respecting authorities took charge of the investigation, Pumas would be in a vulnerable spot. They openly said that there was a crime committed and assured to have all the evidence with them, even alleged documents signed by the victim.

If Valentina provides different materials, Pumas could face negative legal consequences for their handling of the Marco Garcia situation.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.

Related

• Join Soc Takes for a USL Championship virtual slideshow via Zoom on May 31 at 7 p.m. ET displaying the work of staff photographer Robbie Mehling. Mehling, an Indy Eleven supporter based in central Indiana, has traveled to numerous venues across the league to shoot matches over the past…
• LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Real Monarchs captured the 2019 USL Cup with a come-from-behind 3-1 triumph over two-time defending champion Louisville City FC on Sunday night at Lynn Stadium. An early strike by LouCity’s Magnus Rasmussen was overshadowed by unanswered goals from Erik Holt, Konrad Plewa and Noah Powder…
• Welcome back to the 2019 USL mega preview series, covering every single one of the 36 teams contesting the 2019 USL Championship season. If you missed Part I, go check it out here. We left off halfway through the Western Conference, so we’ll pick up right there and dive…