Rafael Marquez, the Mexican football star who plays for his national team at the World Cup in Russia, is different from all other players. However, it has nothing to do with his gaming skills.

This 39-year-old is only on the blacklist of the US Treasury Department charged with drug money laundering. Therefore, no US company or institution should have anything to do with it.

This is quite complicated by his stay in the field. Namely, Markez must not drink from the same bottle his teammates drink because the drink has a label of the American manufacturer with whom the Mexican national team has a contract. Instead of, like other "images" for social networks with various logos of well-known sports brands, it is kept away from the camera.

If by any chance he is declared the best player in the field, he will not receive the award he receives from other footballers. Even when traveling on matches, he is careful not to be in a hotel or apartment that has anything to do with an American company, even at the cost of not sleeping in the same place where his teammates.

FIFA, the legal body of world football and World Cup organizer, made a payment to the Mexican national team for the cost of preparations before the championships in Russia, but the sum was paid in European banknotes through the banks of the Old Continent, so that it would have nothing to do with it with the financial law of the United States. Markez, who has been on the blacklist of the US Department of Justice since August 2017, is suspected of being linked to property that actually belongs to Raul Flores Hernandez, who is, however, under investigation for trafficking smugglers.

Although not charged with illegal work, all Marquis's financial assets in the United States, as well as its Mexican property associated with the US financial network, are currently frozen. Although he rejects any connection with drug traffickers, even for this purpose he hired a team of lawyers to remove him from the blacklist. The suspicions were driven by all the sponsors. One of his lawyers, Hose Luis Nasar, said that he and his client "are in the honest phase of cooperation" with US leaders to resolve the issue.

The Mexican Football Federation and FIFA know well for Markez's unusual situation, but have allowed him to be part of the national team. Although he was one of the most important players in the game in which Mexico unexpectedly defeated Germany, and then South Korea, after the game, the journalists did not really try to draw a statement from Markez because it would mean that they must appear in front of the billboard are the logos of American sponsors.

In addition, if Markez appears at a press conference organized by FIFA, the manager must not be an American. He even entered the national team at the last minute. He was missing out on warming in Wales, at Rose Boulevard in Pasadena, California, apparently because he was banned from entering America. At the training in Russia, there was no logo on his training equipment.

Flights are also carefully planned, since Marquez is not allowed to travel with US airline passengers. Legal experts who were not involved in the case said that FIFA had to do its best to not violate any rules that would conflict with the interests of the US Department of Finance: "The penalties are very high," said Oliver Krisik, a lawyer specializing in for sanctions.

Firms that violate legal provisions, even inadvertently, may be fined up to $ 1.5 million, while deliberate violations may result in a penalty of between 10 million and up to a maximum of 30 years in prison for individuals who knowingly violate the rules.

The limitations are less burdensome for European companies, so Marzez has a problem of the same producer as the teammates, and his personal sponsor is also a company from Europe. However, they did not want to comment on such allegations.