The increasing value of the dollar -- one dollar is currently worth up to 17.50 Mexican pesos -- "is not foreign to Mexican football," according to Héctor Ortiz of LA AFICIÓN. One of the affected sectors includes Liga MX clubs, which, "in the majority of cases, have the contracts of their foreign -- and some domestic -- players valued in dollars." Sports and copyright lawyer Ernesto Meade said that players "are the main beneficiaries of the depreciation." Meade: "I believe that footballers are benefiting, because if they agree to a contract in dollars, then they will have to be paid in dollars, and the one that is losing is the club. Today a contract that was signed in January for $1 million, which would have then been 10.3 million pesos at most, would bounce up to 17 million pesos, something that is out of proportion." Meade mentioned "some of the measures that clubs can take to protect themselves from this increase in the payment to players." He said, "This can include a clause that says I will pay you in dollars but with a certain cap on the contracts signed during the upcoming months. ... if you protect yourself and put in the clause before, there will be no need to litigate before a judge" (LA AFICIÓN, 8/26). In Mexico City, Francisco Vela reported Mexican teams "are protecting themselves from the fluctuation of the dollar." Some Liga MX players' contracts have "protection to avoid the value of the U.S. currency relative to the Mexican peso affecting the economy of the clubs." Some clubs have contingencies establishing that "payments be made in pesos and stabilizing the dollar at a maximum valuation of 12-14 pesos." This means that if a player's salary is $1,000 per month, it is established that the club will pay -- regardless of the value of the dollar -- 12,000-14,000 pesos (LA AFICIÓN, 8/26).
