Mexico rocked by prostitution scandal

The second prostitution scandal in less than a year for the Mexican football team has resulted in eight players sent home from the Copa America.

Due to the country’s participation and eventual triumph in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Mexico had decided to send an under-22 team to the Copa America, which begins in Argentina on July 1.

But the crux of that team will all be missing in action after the players were caught on security vision bringing prostitutes to their rooms at the team hotel in Quito, Ecuador.

The violation of team rules was only discovered after the players reported equipment, including iPads and iPhones, had been stolen from the team hotel.

“I am not going into details of what happened,” Hector Gonzalez Inarritu said, the director of the national team selection.

“The rules were broken, the code of discipline was broken and I have to act.”

“The players confessed. They are very hurt, very sorry and they have said they are sorry to their fans.”

Among the eight players is Barcelona’s Jonathan dos Santos, the younger brother of Giovani, who starred at the Gold Cup for Mexico and scored in the 4-2 final win over the United States.

The guilty players, who were suspended for six months and also hit with a US $4,100 fine for breaking team rules, also include Israel Jimenez, Nestor Vidrio, Marco Fabian, Jorge Hernandez, Javier Cortes, David Cabrera and Nestor Calderon.

They will be replaced by Kristian Alvarez, Antonio Gallardo, Edgar Pacheco, Alan Pulido, Emilio Orrantia, Ulises Davila, Diego de Buen and Oswaldo Alanis, who all slot into Mexico’s squad ahead of their Group C opener against Chile on July 4.

It is not the first time that Mexican players have been caught with prostitutes, with players suspended and fined last September after they were allegedly celebrating a friendly win over Colombia.

It also continues the controversy surrounding Mexican football, after it was announced earlier this month that five players from the team at the Gold Cup had tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol.

All five players were sent home from the tournament, which Mexico went on to win with a 4-2 defeat of the USA in the final.