Mexico's government watchdog agency has opened a probe into the transfer practices of Liga MX clubs to determine whether they violate Mexico's federal law on competitive practices in "setting, elevating or manipulating the purchase or selling price of goods or services."
Agents for Mexico's federal economic competition commission (COFECE by the Spanish acronym) visited Club America and Cruz Azul on Tuesday in a surprise move, but a document released on Wednesday confirmed that the probe relates to the "signing of professional football players" within Mexico in general.
The agency, which began its investigation on June 29, said in a statement that if individuals are found guilty of monopolistic practices, the cases will go to trial, with the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
"For legal reasons I can't get into specific details," Sergio Lopez, head of CONFECE, told ESPN AM. "What I can share is the we are investigating the transfer market in Mexico."
Lopez added that players, clubs, coaching staff, the federation and agents could all be investigated.
COFECE -- an autonomous organisation -- suggested in its statement that it has reason to suspect anti-competitive practices in Mexico's transfer market and is able to go back 10 years prior to when the investigation officially started.
Freedom of contract and transfers within Liga MX has long been contentious, with regular accusations that a pacto de caballeros (gentlemen's agreement) -- an unwritten and informal agreement between club owners -- exists to help club owners govern the transfer market.
The gentleman's agreement means a player may not be free to join another club when his contract runs out, with the original club commanding a fee, according to multiple reports about how the system works. Players have also complained about being transferred to another club within Mexico without their prior knowledge or a contract having been agreed.
The Mexican footballers' association (AMFpro) was launched in October 2017 with the goal of trying to improve how owners could treat the players. In April 2018, a meeting between the AMFpro, the Liga MX and Mexican federation announced that "players whose contracts end and don't have an offer from their previous club are free to sign [elsewhere]."
Some in the Mexican game defend the pacto de caballeros, pointing to wages in Liga MX being higher, possibly because clubs know that players' transfer price won't diminish as the contract runs down.
"If the pacto de caballeros isn't understood then we have to explain it to the players so they stop making the clubs look bad," said then Tigres president Alejandro Rodriguez last April.
The last high-profile contract dispute surrounded then-Chivas defender Oswaldo Alanis. The current Real Oviedo player received support from national teammates when he was removed from the first team squad last December after he refused to sign an extension to his contract with the club. His contract ran out the following summer.
"[We're] tired of some Mexican club directors continuing practices that seeks to exert pressure to obligate players to sign contracts that they don't accept, including with future threats that put their career at risk," read part of a statement from the players' association on the Alanis case.
Liga MX clubs are also the subject of an investigation by Mexico's Tax Administration Service (SAT) over the alleged existence of "double contracts."
"Double contracts" happen when a player or employee signs one contract to register with the federation as an official document and then has another on the side directly with the club or separate entity.