You're dumber than dumb to get yourself banned before one of the football season's most important tournament in Copa America. You're an absolute moron when busted for prostitutes--all because you got your iPad and cash ripped off by a hooker (or six). 8 Mexico national footballers have six-month bans, eliminating over 1/3 of the soccer team instantly.
Every professional sports team contains at least one idiot--or multiple fools on the same team--whom insist on spicing up a season through one or more sex scandals.
The Mexico national football team may win the award for detrimental scandals this year: Its national football team has thrown 8 fools into the mix simultaneously, through sexual escapades that literally eliminate one-third of its national football team.
The footballers created their own crisis -- just days before the Copa America tournament. Despite being under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF, the Mexico national football team has been regularly invited to compete in the Copa América since 1993 and has done quite well. The soccer team's finished as runner-up twice and received the third place medal three times in the tournament.
But it appears that normal success is probably about to change: The 2011 Copa American probably won't go as planned for Mexico's football team that's been left with just 15 of its 23 players -- less than two-thirds of its soccer team.
8 of the country's players are now suspended over allegations of "inviting" prostitutes to their team hotel room in Quito. The soccer team's director, Hector Gonzalez Inarritu, has confirmed the six-month bans placed on eight team members who were currently training in Ecuador.
Involvement with prostitution equals a bans for a Mexico national football team player, use of prostitutes deemed a breach of Mexico's code of discipline.
The eight national football players now suspended for six months over the prostitution allegations include Mexico's Israel Jimenez, Nestor Vidrio, Jonathan Dos Santos, Marco Fabian, Jorge Hernandez, Javier Cortes, David Cabrera and Nestor Calderon. Each of the eight Mexico soccer players has also fined 50,000 pesos (approximately US $4,200 dollars) each by the Mexican Soccer Federation.
On the upside, getting nicked for four grand ain't so bad. The fine could be far worse: Kobe Bryant made himself $100,000 less rich after a televised gay slur and related fine for the pro basketball player. On the downside for footballers: Six months off work probably won't prove the best experience for the Mexico players.
The soccer players were just preparing to leave the country of Ecuador for Argentina, where the Mexico national football team has been slated to compete in the Copa America 2011 -- South America's premier international soccer tournament beginning July 2. Mexico's first football game of the Copa America is scheduled Sunday, July 4, against Chile.
Less some of its most important team members, the odds of Mexico's soccer team winning that tournament are, suddenly, not looking so good.
To make a stupid foray into the realm of sexual escapades ten times stupider, the Mexico players managed to bust themselves in the prostitute scandal.
The chance of being ripped off by a hooker tend is pretty good unto itself. Just ask the California guy who had his $2800 MacBook laptop stolen a couple months ago by a prostitute. The chances of being ripped of by a hooker in Ecuador -- a country which ranks as one of the poorest in the entire world -- tends to increase those odds exponentially.
The team, and its players' evening with prostitutes, got the spotlight when it seems football team members noted some rather expensive items missing from their temporary Quito pad: iPads, cell phones and cash had apparently transferred hands, stolen.
Unless some passports were missing, the Mexico players probably would've been wiser to factor in the stealing as part of the night's "entertainment" costs. But the players didn't. And that led to part two -- a review of hotel video footage and a "visit", with six women involved.
When law enforcement checked the hotel's closed circuit television system, cops discovered some people whom were "guests" -- but not paying guests of the Ecuador hotel. Video showed six women, all of whom allegedly prostitutes, physically being escorted into the Quito hotel building by a Mexico football team representative.
Mexico's football team director Inarritu says he's sorry about the whole mess -- in a somewhat lengthy apology that chalks the sex scandal up to mistakes of youth. But the team's director also extends "an apology to all the fans, for this type of events should not occur again."
Someone needs to clue Mr. Inarritu in to the idea that "never" is a long time. And there are certain instances where "never say never" is instead applicable -- like in circumstances related to pro athletes and sexual indiscretions.
Oh, that would actually be athletes and politicians.