Fifa has rejected a request by a professional men's football club in Mexico to sign a female player, a spokesman for the organisation said yesterday.

　　Maribel Dominguez impressed officials of Mexican second-division club Celaya enough to give her a chance.

　　The 26-year-old signed for the men's team on Wednesday, sending a mixture of shock and thrill through Mexico.

　　The request from Celaya was turned down during a weekend meeting of Fifa's executive committee in Zurich in Switzerland. In a written statement, the committee stressed that "there must be a clear separation between men's and women's football".

　　"This is laid down in league football and in international matches by the existence of gender-specific competitions, and the laws of the game and Fifa's regulations do not provide for any exceptions," the committee announced.

　　Dominguez, who scored 45 goals in 46 games for the Mexican women's national team, had signed a two-year deal, but Celaya deferred to the international body on whether a woman could play in the league.

　　However, officials had already designed a special jersey for her.

　　After the signing, pundits for sports pages and radio shows offered everything from applause to admonishment for Dominguez.