Almost eighteen years have passed since Luis Omar Tapia left TV Azteca, but urban legends are still the order of the day that claim that the famous "Panda Bear" as he is known in the media in the United States, left Mexican television because His style was not liked and because of the fight of vanities with other Mexican commentators.

But who better than the main actor in this plot that has given space to social networks commenting and opining on this matter and who now, through La Opinion, details his perspective on everything that surrounded his stay in the Ajusco television station.

"There were always different stories, which were written in the newspapers. Even the newspaper Record said that "Dog" Enrique Bermudez and I had a competition, that we did not get along and that we hated each other, when Enrique Bermudez and I are brothers. He and I are great friends, we have even gone out to lunch and dinner with our wives."

"We have had invitations from each other, we have supported each other, people invent a lot of things, the issue of social networks too, people then read every stupid thing that comes out and they believe it completely and they think that one thinks the same way and It's not true," he clarified.

Tapia also said that: "I love Mexico, I have a great passion for Mexico, I tell you something else, I don't make my wine in Chile, because now I also released my wine and I have a Mexican partner and my wine is produced in Queretaro, if I didn't like Mexico, do you think I would be so attached to Mexican culture?", he assured.

"My departure from TV Azteca was a business decision"

Luis Omar Tapia explained about his controversial time in Mexican television, especially on TV Azteca: "At the end of the day, my departure from Mexico was a business decision, because as I said at the beginning, I have had the fortune and continue to have the fortune of identifying the talent of many people and, to put it mildly, I have had the luxury of opening the door for several Mexican talents to be given an opportunity,that today work in television and I'm not going to tell you their names, but today they currently work in television and others are yet to come," he said.

He added: "Because to be a journalist, reporter, narrator or analyst you have to have a little push, because this is a very difficult profession, where one is first me and then me, but thank God I have had the gift of recognizing talent and giving opportunities to new generations as happened in Mexico where I consider that my time was not fruitless," he said.

Two-year contract

Dig into his memories, the current Telemundo talent and with a career in the main Spanish-language networks in the United States and Mexico, such as ESPN, Fox Sports and TV Azteca, assured that his departure from Mexican television was because his two-year employment relationship came to an end in 2008.

"With TV Azteca, I had signed for two years, for four tournaments and at that time I was doing very well and one of my dreams was to work in open television, after 15 years at ESPN and after April 2006, I announced that I was not going to continue at ESPN anymore, many people called me crazy and I said, well, sometimes madness brings many better things”

“After my last Champions League final with ESPN in Paris 2006, I was away for about two months, I disappeared. I went to Venezuela to play in the World Cup with Diego Balado and at the end of the 2006 World Cup I received a call from TV Azteca through Pablo Latapi and Andre Marin, may he rest in peace, and they came to talk to me to see if I would like to work there in Mexico,” said Tapia. The announcer also explained that: “My first question was, well, I am Chilean and raised in Argentina, also raised and studied in the United States, a completely different mentality than that of Mexico and they are sure that you want to take me to Mexico, to the Mexican League for the team games and for the Mexican national team because the 2007 Copa America was coming up in Venezuela.” “They responded yes, that my accent didn’t matter, your mannerisms didn’t matter, they told me we love your style, you can come to Mexico and finish the World Cup and I went to Mexico, I arrived and met with them and I reached an agreement and signed for only two years and I felt very good, I felt very comfortable, where I learned a lot, much more than just a little knowledge that I had of Mexican soccer," he said.

Omar Tapia acknowledged that during his time in Mexico he had a lot of help from Emilio Fernando Alonso, who taught me about the soccer culture of Mexico, about Mexican culture, about the culture of Chiapas, Morelia, Toluca, Pachuca, where soccer is experienced differently."

Finally, he acknowledged that during his time at TV Azteca he had very good colleagues and that his departure was due to the offer from Fox Sports:“I had very good teammates, I think we all enjoyed it, but then what happened was that ESPN lost the rights to the Champions League, Fox took them away and that's when Fausto Ceballos, vice president of Fox at the time, called me and asked me how my situation with TV Azteca was and I told him that I had only signed for two years, so he offered me to start at Fox and there we put together the BVT team, that is Diego Balado, Eduardo Viscayart and yours truly,” he concluded.