The President of the Mexican Soccer League Liga MX, Decio de Maria, announced changes made in regard to the rules and benefits to clubs that win the newly instated Copa MX , Mediotiempo.com reports.
"Starting with next season the two Copa MX champions will play aginst each other to fight for a ticket to next year's Copa Libertadores next year as Mexico's third team. That's a major change, it's a sports prize for whoever wins the Copa MX title," said De Maria in an interview with Mexican sports channel TDN.
With this change, Copa MX becomes a tournament of genuine importance in Mexican soccer. This year's winners will face off in a grand final that will find the winning team representing Mexico in the Copa Libertadores.
De Maria also announced that for the next edition of the Copa MX, when teams face rivals from the same division they will be able to use up to five foreign players, while they will only be allowed to use three when facing teams from different leagues.
These adjustments will be announced formally Monday and Tuesday when managers from all of the league's teams are gathered at the annual meeting of Mexican football to take place in Cancun, Quintana Roo.
The Copa MX was originally instituted back in 1907 as a way to incorporate soccer teams from Mexico under one single tournament, which included both professional and amateur squads. Through the years, the tournament gathered importance and during a long period of time, whoever won the cup was considered Mexico's "National Champion."
After a period in which the Mexican Football Federation kept changing the rules and the tournament time table, even placing it on hiatus on two different occassions, the cup officially ceased existence in 1997.
On May 31, 2012, Liga MX president Decio de Maria announced the return of the mid-league tournament to be played twice a year during the Apertura and Clausura portions of the Liga MX.
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