Eight Players Sent Home From Mexico's Copa America Squad In Prostitution Scandal

Controversy strikes again. The Mexican national team has been hit with another scandal, this time involving the national team players from the Sub-22 team that is participating in Copa America. Eight players have been suspended for six months and fined for their actions in a hotel in Quito, Ecuador, where the team was staying in preparation for the upcoming Copa America tournament.

The story began with a supposed robbery from the rooms where the players were staying. Hotel administrators questioned the robbery and began their own investigation, leading them to expose that eight players had hired prostitutes and taken the women to their rooms. When these allegations came out, Mexico's head coaches (Luis Fernando Tena & Chava Reyes) began their own investigation and realized the allegations against the players were true. The players confessed, and the FMF took action against them. Their statement is after the jump.

"It's a difficult decision for us, after all the tournament will begin in less than a week. The players confessed, they are very sorry and regret what they did, but these actions must be taken and they must suffer the consequences."

It is now official, as stated by the FMF (Mexican Futbol Federation) that Israel Jimenez (Tigres), Nestor Vidrio (Atlas), Jonathan Dos Santos (Barcelona B), Marco Fabian (Chivas), Jorge Hernandez (Jaguares), Javier Cortes (Pumas), David Cabrera (Pumas), and Nestor Calderon (Toluca) have all been cut from the team, as well as suspended for six months and fined 50,000 pesos. Replacing these eight suspended players are Kristian Alvarez, Diego de Buen, Antonio Gallardo, Edgar Pacheco, Ulises Davila, Carlos Orrantia, and Oswaldo Alanis. All suspended players are now on their way back to their club teams. 

This article was written by Roberto Macias, who will be contributing to FMF State Of Mind (under his own name) in the future. You can find him on twitter at @DonTical_futbol.