Another major figure orbiting Martín de la Torre in the film is Paco Quintanilla. Like De la Torre, Quintanilla is an intentional invention that captures a sweeping reality. He represents the network executives who treated the national federation as a subsidiary of their entertainment empires.
During the mid-1980s, Televisa held an iron grip over Mexican domestic sports. The network selected stadium locations, negotiated overseas syndication rights, and pressured organizers to schedule marquee matches at midday under scorching heat so that European audiences could watch during prime evening slots. Real players, including Argentina’s Diego Maradona, publicly denounced those kickoff times as dangerous to human health. Yet federation administrators had zero power to resist. Quintanilla functions as the cinematic avatar of that corporate leverage, reminding De la Torre at every turn who actually funded the show.
