Former two-time World Cup referee Armando Archundia resigned on Wednesday from his position as president of the Mexican Football Federation's (FMF) Referee Committee, following a restructuring of the organization. According to unofficial reports, this decision was driven by Archundia's refusal to accept a position that was subordinate to that of Chilean Enrique Osses, the head of referee instructing in the same committee. This choice came in the wake of a restructuring implemented by the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Ivar Sisniega, last October, when he appointed former Chivas general director Juan Manuel Herrero as the new general director of the Referees Committee. The move significantly undermined Archundia's authority. According to credible information obtained by La Opinion, the final straw was when Archundia was offered a role beneath that of the director of referee instructing, Enrique Osses. The truth is that everything has backfired and there is confusion in the refereeing union a few days before the start of the Clausura 2025 tournament, especially because the referees are not happy with the presence of the Chilean Osses as high command and it is assured that there is a lot of dissatisfaction. Even the recent resignation of the international referee Fernando Guerrero is assumed to have been due to a public questioning of the Chilean leader of the referees in Mexico, where Archundia did not intervene.
According to the newspaper Mark, Juan Manuel Herrero, the new general director of the Referees Committee, defined the restructuring of this controversial body; in the new organizational chart, Archundia was placed below Osses, which forced him to resign. Armando Archundia leaves the presidency of the Referees Committee after two and a half years, amid several scandals, such as the one with referee Fernando Guerrero, who announced that he will retire after the 2025 Clausura, and a sexual harassment scandal involving a female referee. A few days ago, another former World Cup referee, Ramos Rizo, revealed that Mexican referee Avril Herrera reported three referees for harassment; however, her complaint was hidden within the Referees Committee, as decided by Archundia. "They want to cover it up, on the instructions of [Armando] Archundia and [Enrique] Osses. They asked a certain Paredes to cool down the matter and ended up intimidating the girl who is risking her career for reporting it," he said on social media.
Source: El Dictamen
