Recent news reports claim that Mexico might be banned from the 2016 Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), thanks to Mexican politician Alfredo Castillo. The IOC has stated Castillo is violating its policies by meddling with the inner workings of Mexican sports federations.
The Mexican official, who once called himself the Pep Guardiola of security while serving (without success) as Federal Security Commissioner in the state of Michoacán, was recently chosen as the head of CONADE (Mexico’s National Commission of Sports, which regulates all amateur sports) and came into the position with the idea of shaking things up.
Since his arrival, Castillo has attempted to tackle some sports federations head on, and even took away the registry of the Mexican Boxing Federation, leading some national boxing champions to hit the streets asking for money to attend an Olympic Qualifying tournament.
So what will actually happen? Since Castillo’s actions breach IOC regulations, the organization has now sent a letter to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto asking him to take corrective measures.
If the Mexican government doesn’t take steps to correct the situation and abide by IOC rules, the committee will decide whether or not to expel Mexico from Rio 2016 in a few days.
Qualified Mexican athletes would still be allowed to compete if the team is banned from the upcoming summer Olympics, just not under the Mexican flag. The IOC’s hymn would play in case they won any medals. This also means that Mexico might not be able to defend their 2012 gold medal in soccer, and it is unlikely that an IOC team full of Mexican players would compete.