Soccer:Mexico have banned Arsenal's Carlos Vela and Celtic's Efrain Juarez for six months for their roles in a late-night party that followed a friendly against Colombia earlier this month.
Another 11 players, including Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez, Tottenham’s Giovani dos Santos and Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez, will be fined following the party that took place after the match with Colombia in Monterrey on September 7th.
"They (Vela and Juarez) will be suspended for six months . . . due to breaking four articles of the internal regulations of the national team," Nestor de la Torre, the national teams' director, said.
De la Torre said the players had, among other things, failed to observe good discipline and receive visitors only at specified hours and within designated areas.
"We talked to most of them and there was total acceptance (of the punishments)," de la Torre said. "There were mistakes committed. The first step to be able to move forward is to recognise when one has made mistakes."
The party at the players' hotel followed Mexico's first victory in three friendlies since the World Cup in South Africa where they reached the second round in June. They beat Colombia 1-0 after a 1-1 draw with world champions Spain in Mexico City and a 2-1 defeat by Ecuador in Guadalajara.
De la Torre denied local media reports that a number of prostitutes had been invited to the party. "Those are rumours, there were guests, relatives and friends. We're talking about facts, not suppositions, and being realistic there were only relatives and friends," De la Torre said.