Twelve teams will take part in the 2024 Concacaf Women's Gold Cup – the eight best from Central America and the four best from the women's Copa America. Panama was in one group with Brazil, Colombia and Puerto Rico, failing throughout. The Panamanians lost all three matches with a total goal balance of 1:13.
In the local football community, greater outrage came later anyway. Panama Star balls Marta Cox told local media then that the biggest obstacle for Panamanian footballers is the lack of appropriate infrastructure games and training in your own country.
This was supposed to enrage the head of the Panama federation, Manuel Arias. The activist responded to these allegations with a personal attack on Cox, claiming that “she is out of shape, fat and unable to run on the pitch.” Arias added that Cox, who scored Panama's first-ever goal at the 2023 World Cup, “has no idea about football and league in Panama because he hasn't played there for years and doesn't know what's going on there.”
Cox reacted to these words by stating that it was not known whether she would continue to play for the national team. The federation, in turn, announced that Arias “promised” that he would never repeat such words. However, she dealt with the matter anyway FIFAwhich ended the proceedings this week and made a harsh decision for the activist.
FIFA punished the president of the Panama federation for calling a female soccer player “fat.” Suspension for six months
“President Arias has been sanctioned for a period of 6 months until July 14, 2025. During this period, he will not be able to participate in activities related to the football federation,” reads the statement of the Panamanian federation FEPAFUT, which informed that the duties of the president were taken over by the current vice-president, Fernando Arce.
“It should be emphasized that the Panama Football Federation is not a party to any past or present proceedings before any FIFA jurisdictional body, and the sanction imposed on the president has not and will not affect the normal functioning of this institution,” it added.
Arias commented on this decision on the X website. – I used very unfortunate language that should never have been used – he wrote.
The Panama Federation noted that its goal is to promote the women's team “through specific actions such as the equalization of travel expenses and prizes in our women's and men's teams, in addition to the recent renewal of the coaching staff in our U-20 and senior teams, without forgetting the continuous development of tournaments youth women and men in the U-14 and U-16 categories.” “We still have work to do,” it concluded.