Mexico fires soccer coach after alleged assault on TV commentator

Miguel Herrera was fired as Mexico’s soccer coach Tuesday, throwing the national team into turmoil less than four months before the start of World Cup qualifying.

Herrera’s ouster comes a day after he allegedly assaulted a television commentator at an airport in Philadelphia.

Decio de Maria, the incoming president of Mexico’s soccer federation, made the announcement during a news conference in Mexico City.

“It is not a simple decision,” De Maria said, “but it is the correct one. Matches never finish, and as public figures we have to keep that in mind. No one can be above the type of situation we saw on Monday at the Philadelphia airport.”

Television Azteca announcer Christian Martinoli, who has been critical of Herrera, said the coach punched him in the neck. The men were at the airport awaiting a flight back to Mexico after Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup championship, which Herrera’s team won by defeating Jamaica, 3-1.

Azteca had immediately called for an investigation into the incident.

The network’s parent company, Grupo Salinas, owns two Mexican league soccer teams as well as the broadcast rights for the Mexican national team, giving it substantial influence in the country’s soccer federation.

Herrera apologized in a statement, referring to the airport confrontation as a “distressing incident.”

“I understand that these are not the actions that a coach with the Mexican national team can make,” he said. “It’s with profound sadness that I give up the job as coach of the national team for such a lamentable reason, because the results on the field, for the most part, were positive.”

Herrera has a reputation for being combative. Last October, he reportedly challenged Panama Coach Hernan Gomez to a fight during an exhibition game, and after Mexico’s loss to the U.S. in April he was seen heatedly arguing with officials. He also had a tiff with the Honduran bench during an exhibition earlier this month.

A former national team defender, Herrera, 47, had a record of 19-7-11 as Mexico’s coach, including two victories over New Zealand in a playoff for the final spot in the field for the 2014 World Cup. Mexico went on to advance out of group play for a sixth consecutive World Cup.

Herrera was the sixth coach to guide the Mexican team since the 2010 World Cup. During the same period, the U.S. has had two coaches.

De Maria did discuss possible replacements but said the federation was in no rush to choose a new coach. However, time is short. Mexico faces an Oct. 9 game with the U.S. at the Rose Bowl to determine the region’s representative in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. After that comes the first set of World Cup qualifiers in November.