By Tariq Panja
Mexico's Rafael Marquez clashes with Germany's Marco Reus during the World Cup match between Germany and Mexico in Moscow.
Moscow: Rafael Marquez, (click here) one of the best-known stars in Mexico's World Cup soccer team, is a standout of the tournament in Russia. But it has nothing to do with his prowess on the field.
Marquez, 39, is on a US Treasury Department blacklist of people it says have helped launder money for drug cartels. His inclusion on the list prohibits American individuals, businesses and banks from having anything to do with him....
The FBI will have a field day once the World Cup comes to the USA. Every person that wanted to make the team, but, could not, raise their hands. There it is, plenty of legal players were denied.
20 June 2018
...Rafa Márquez, (click here) who came on the the last 17 minutes, made a bit of history himself. He joins Lothar Matthäus, Gianluigi Buffon and Antonio 'La Tota' Carbajal as one of four players who have appeared in five different World Cup finals.
That however, is where the sentimental part of the story ends. The 39-year-old has been deemed a persona non grata by the United States after being linked with Mexican drug kingpin Raúl Flores Hernández. The US Treasury Department accused former Barcelona and Monaco player Márquez of acting as a high profile face for the organization - accusations which the player has denied from the start. To this day, he and his legal team are battling to clear his name....
...It is highly unlikely that Márquez will be named ‘Man of the match’ - even if he puts in the performance of his life in Russia. The award is sponsored by American brewers Budweiser and it would be a criminal offence for the player to pose next to any publicity relating to the company - even though he has not be found guilty of any connections to Flores Hernández's drugs syndicate. For the same reasons he is forbidden from giving post-match interviews to pitchside cameras as the Flash Zone area is packed with advertising from US brands such as Visa, Coca-Cola, Budweiserand McDonald's. FIFA insist that Márquez can only give interviews for broadcast in areas where no sponsorship branding is visible. And if the veteran is elected to give a press conference at any point during the tournament, FIFA must find a translator who is not an American national....
