The troubled life of Carlos Salcedo, accused by his mother of the murder of his sister

Carlos Salcedo has broken his silence through a story on Instagram in which he talks about pain and vulnerability, accompanied by the tags “non-stop” and “resilience,” together with an image of the soccer player training. The message was the first public response from Salcedo following the murder of his sister, Martha Paola Salcedo, two weeks ago. Since then, the controversy has been escalating with rumors of an alleged request by the player to his club, Cruz Azul, asking to leave the team “urgently” to play abroad. Shortly thereafter, his mother, María Isabel Hernández, posted an Instagram story blaming Salcedo and his wife for masterminding the femicide.

Paola Salcedo, 29, was murdered on June 29 at a circus in the El Arenal neighborhood in the State of Mexico. Paola, host of the sports program Líderes del Rebaño, was accompanied by her four-year-old son and his caregiver. On the way out, two men on a motorcycle shot her six times before fleeing. She was taken to a private hospital where she subsequently died. A few days later, the prosecutor’s office arrested two men as suspects in her murder. But, on the verge of closing the case, the controversy had only just begun.

María Isabel Hernández posted an accusation against her son on Paola’s Instagram account. “The real reason why Carlos Salcedo wants to leave the country is because he and his wife Andrea Navarro are the intellectual authors of Paola’s murder.” Salcedo did not comment on the accusation. It was not until July 13 that he published the following message: “Let it hurt, cry what you need to, accept what you feel, embrace your vulnerability as part of the process, do not judge yourself for what you are going through, allow yourself to be heartbroken, remember that no one heals overnight, be patient with yourself, with your process, remember that it is not about forgetting what you have experienced, but to accept that new reality, although to accept is not to erase those memories, it is to embrace them as part of what you lived, then give yourself the opportunity to receive what you really deserve, so fill yourself with self-love and start over as many times as necessary.”

A history of family disputes

The Salcedo family has been embroiled in internal disputes since 2015 when the player accused his father, Carlos Joel Salcedo, of threats and economic mismanagement. In 2017, the family issued a press release in which they denied the accusations and claimed to be a normal family, which solves its problems at home. “We regret his behavior in recent months, we believe that his current environment is not helping him as a public figure,” they said about the footballer.

In 2018, Carlos Salcedo published a letter accusing his parents and sister of defaming him. “Being my father and representative,” said the player, “he took advantage of the trust I had in him to handle my matters and interests unduly, without my authorization.” He added that Carlos Joel Salcedo performed poorly in his job as an agent by not having clear accounts of other players, as well as leaking personal and confidential information, which led to the estrangement between both parties.

Regarding María Isabel Hernández, Salcedo wrote that a real mother does not make things up and expose her son with the desire to see him harmed, that she always wanted to manipulate him against others, and “for being in collusion with Martha Paola in trying to attack my career and marriage. For not wanting to give me back a house and money that I bought with a lot of effort, and that through deceit and bad advice ended up in Martha Paola’s name.” That same year, Paola Salcedo said that she again confronted her brother when she tried to warn him about an alleged infidelity on the part of his wife, Andrea, leading the player to distance himself even further from his parents and sister.

Alleged departure from Cruz Azul

Crul Azul signed the defender from Guadalajara in 2023. He agreed a contract worth $2 million a year and was an important element in coach Martín Anselmi’s tactical set-up during the last Liga MX season, in which Cruz Azul reached the final against eventual champion Club América.

Three days after the murder of his sister, ESPN journalist León Lecanda announced that Salcedo had negotiated his “urgent” departure for personal reasons with the club’s board of directors. However, the news was not confirmed by official sources.

According to information provided by Lecanda on July 2, Brazilian teams including Corinthians and Internacional were interested in the player. EL PAÍS spoke to Ike Carrera, an analytical Cruz Azul insider, on the same day. Carrera said that, in addition to Internacional, “there is talk that San Diego FC could be interested.”

The Apertura 2024-2025 tournament kicked off on Friday, July 5. Cruz Azul played on the Saturday against Mazatlán and Salcedo’s absence was evident. The club confirmed that the defender had been granted an indefinite leave of absence, which is why he did not feature in the game against Monterrey on matchday 2. He is expected to remain out for at least two or three more weeks, according to local sports media.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition