Inside 'México 86': Comparing Martín De La Torre to Actual 1980S Soccer Executives

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To understand the forces that de la Torre represents, one must look at the two men who held absolute dominion over Mexican soccer in the 1980s: Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and Guillermo Cañedo de la Bárcena. Azcárraga, universally known as "El Tigre," presided over the Televisa media empire with an iron fist. He did not simply broadcast sporting events; he owned the teams, the venues, and the commercial infrastructure that underwrote them.

Cañedo was the diplomatic mastermind. Serving concurrently as the president of the 1986 World Cup Organizing Committee, a vice president of FIFA, and a close confidant of FIFA President João Havelange, Cañedo wielded an astonishing degree of global influence. When Colombia formally announced in 1982 that it could not afford the infrastructure required to host the 1986 tournament, Cañedo moved swiftly behind the scenes. He outmaneuvered rival bids from the United States and Canada, guaranteeing that Mexico would become the first country to host the tournament twice within a sixteen-year span.