Veracruz extended its winless Liga MX run to 33 games on Tuesday in its 5-0 defeat to Queretaro and is now looking for a new manager after the resignation of veteran head coach Enrique Meza was confirmed on Wednesday.
Club owner Fidel Kuri announced he'd accepted Meza's resignation in a public letter, bringing an end to a reign that only began in June.
The under-fire owner indicated it wouldn't be just to only blame Meza for the club's abysmal form, slamming what he labeled the "deciduous" and "inefficient" system in Mexico and accusing the officiating and VAR of poor decision-making during Veracruz games.
Veracruz has now gone over a year without a victory in Liga MX and has just one point from its first six games of the 2019 Apertura. The side has scored five times and conceded 21 goals over those matches.
"We've stumbled, but we haven't been defeated, we can't feel beaten, we are football professionals," continued the statement from Kuri.
Former Mexico national team coach Meza, 71, said in a news conference Tuesday that he'd done everything "humanly possible" to turn the club's fortune's around and indicated that his stint with Veracruz could signal the end of a career. He had never before resigned from a post in a coaching career stretching back to 1992.
"Honestly I'm very ashamed, it's not the fault of the players, I chose them and I wasn't able to make them play, so I think I'm responsible ... if someone is responsible, it is me," said Meza.
Veracruz was "relegated" from Liga MX last season, but was able to pay a 120 million Mexican pesos (just over $6 million) fee to remain in the league, which is set to expand to 20 teams.
The club has been beset with accusations of not playing players on time, with ESPN Mexico reporting on Wednesday that debts with the players still exist and that the players' union (AMFpro) would back Veracruz's players is they decide to strike.
Kuri was suspended for one year from all football-related activities back in Jan. 2016 after an outburst directed at Edgardo Codesal, the technical director of the Mexican Football Federation's (FMF) refereeing commission inside the team's stadium. He also appeared to threaten a journalist after a game in Puebla in Sept. 2016, but then denied any wrongdoing.
Veracruz is currently under investigation for its alleged use of double contracts -- supposedly to reduce its tax bill tax -- and was docked four points last season when a FIFA disciplinary commission ruled that it had failed to pay Montevideo Wanderers the development rights for Matias Santos.