The Mexico Football Federation does not plan to punish players on the World Cup team who took part in a late-night party prior to their flight to Europe ahead of the World Cup.
According to reports, several members of the team partied with "around 30 prostitutes" after Saturday's 1-0 victory against Scotland in a pre-World Cup friendly. The TVNotas gossip magazine shared some photos of the farewell party but none in attendance will face any repercussions because “they have not missed training.”
"The day was a free day," said Guillermo Cantu, general secretary of the Mexican football federation, according to ESPN. "That's the risk you take with [giving] freedom. In truth, it's not whether we like [what the players may have done] or not, simply that we have to be clear that they haven't missed any training or a meet-up."
"The subject of values is separate. I'm not going to condemn the players. It's a personal and free decision of how they can use their [free] time, which was agreed upon a week before the journey [to Denmark]," Cantu added. "The topic of freedom is complex."
According to World Soccer Talk, Gossip magazine TVNotas reported nine players, including goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, forward Raul Jimenez, defender Carlos Salcedo, midfielder Marco Fabian and brothers Jonathan and Giovani dos Santos, were at the party at a private compound in the Mexican capital.
ESPN's John Sutcliffe reports that captain Rafa Marquez spoke with the players in the team hotel after arriving in Copenhagen on Tuesday to remind them of their responsibilities ahead of Russia 2018, indicating that the event had damaged the group's image.
Mexico will take on Germany in their opening Group F match on June 17, followed by games against South Korea and Sweden.