Mexico fires coach Miguel Herrera

July 31, 2015 Mexico’s football federation has fired its manager Miguel Herrera for allegedly attacking a reporter at the team’s Gold Cup win.

According to the president of the Mexican football federation, Decio de Maria, Miguel Herrera allegedly punched a sports journalist for Mexico’s TV Azteca, Christian Martinoli.

“I have rationalised and heard and taken the decision to separate from the (head of the) technical team of the national side, Miguel Herrera. It’s not an easy decision, it’s a complex decision. It (the decision) shows who we are and above all else what should happen,” he said

The team was heading home after it won the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament when the incident allegedly took place, however de Maria insists that Herrera’s off-pitch conduct stands above his success on the field.

“I think that Miguel understands the basis of the decision and at the end of the day, as I have just finished reading, his values and his principles stand above whatever results,” he added

Martinoli had strongly criticized Herrera over his well-known emotional sideline outbursts during the team’s early exit from a previous tournament in Chile. He stated that the incident took place when Herrera spotted him in the security line at the airport, threatened him and then struck him in the neck.

Grupo Salinas, which is the parent company of TV Azteca has called on Mexico’s football federation to launch an immediate investigation into the incident.