Toluca’s two-time championship in the MX League was left in the background in the public conversation after the tense episode involving its technical director, Antonio Mohamedand the TUDN analyst, David Faitelsonat the end of the Final played at the Nemesio Diez Stadium. What should have been a night of celebration for the scarlet fans led to a media crossover that continues to generate repercussions.
The origin of the conflict dates back to comments made by Faitelson prior to the second leg against Tigres, when he questioned the decision of Mohamed to bench goalkeeper Hugo González and bet on Luis Garcíaafter the mistake made in the first leg duel. The criticism was not well received by the Argentine strategist, who after the celebrations publicly warned that I would look for the journalist for “talking too much.”
Far from backing down, David Faitelson was forceful in stating that he will not offer any apology to the Toluca coach. In an interview with Alejandro Gómez and Iván Pirrón for media As, the analyst made it clear that he remains firm in his position and convinced that his statements were correct.
“I have a very clear conscience, I am not going to offer an apology because I did not make any mistake,” said Faitelson when asked about the altercation with Mohamed.
The journalist explained that, from his perspective, the sports critic did not cross any personal or ethical lines, which is why he does not consider it necessary to retract. He even pointed out that only in a different scenario would he have acted differently.
“If I had made a serious mistake, if I had messed with his personal life, if I had messed with some other issue, I would have said ‘Mohamed, I apologize, I was wrong,’” he added during the interview.
The statements that triggered the annoyance of “Turco” were made before the opening whistle of the decisive match, when Faitelson harshly questioned the message that, in his opinion, was sent to goalkeeper Hugo González.
“It seems to me that Mr. Mohamed is disrespectful. Today the Turk seems to me that he has dealt a blow, that he lacks morals, he lacks ethics. It cannot be that a boy like Hugo González, who also took important balls from you in the first leg, punish him by leaving him on the bench today. The message for Hugo González is terrible, it is infamous. Just as we have praised Mohamed, today he totally disappoints me with this decision,” were his words.
While Toluca celebrates a historic two-time championship, the controversy between coach and analyst continues to fuel the debate about the limits of criticism and responsibility in public discourse within Mexican soccer.
