InterLiga is typically a bit of a flawed tournament, but the 2010 edition takes that to another level, says Goal.com's Luis Bueno.

Throughout its history, the annual InterLiga tournament has had its warts but with a worthy payoff. After all, spots in Copa Libertadores are coveted and significant.

The latest edition of InterLiga, however, has more warts than usual, flaws the tournament picked up last spring without any fault of its own.

When San Luis and Chivas were ungraciously wronged by CONMEBOL following the initial outbreak of the H1N1 flu, it set off a chain of events with regards to Mexican teams' participation in Copa Libertadores, and ultimately the 2010 InterLiga tournament will suffer because of it.

The ultimate payoff from this tournament will not change - a direct berth in Copa Libertadores and a spot in a play-in series are both up for grabs. But Copa Libertadores already has three Mexican teams awaiting in the tournament proper.

Morelia punched their ticket based on their finish in the Apertura 2009 season. San Luis and Chivas, meanwhile, were victims of cowardice on the part of South American clubs, and when the Mexican Football Federation pulled out of South America altogether, the two lost their Round of 16 spots in the 08-09 edition. But San Luis and Chivas were granted direct passage not only into the tournament but into the Round of 16.

Add to that the absence of Toluca, Cruz Azul, Pachuca and Pumas due to their respective CONCACAF Champions League participations and InterLiga's field was more diluted than usual.

Thus, the field features four clubs who reached the Apertura 2009 playoffs and four who didn't. Estudiantes, Jaguares, Tigres and Atlante each failed to make the Apertura 2009 Liguilla.

The upside to the tournament is the participation of Monterrey, who won the title last season, as well as the ever-popular and ever-interesting America.

While the games themselves will likely be interesting and entertaining, it does not detract from the ultimate end to the tournament. InterLiga 2010 will allow for up to two teams to reach Copa Libertadores, which will bring the total number of Mexican clubs there to five.

And do five Mexican clubs really deserve to be in Copa Libertadores?

In some ways, it's payback for the hatred that was spewed during the H1N1 flu outbreak, when thousands of cases broke out in Mexico causing dozens of deaths and a fear that the virus would spread even more quickly and produce even more deaths. South American clubs wanted no part of Mexican teams, and playing home-and-away series was impossible under those circumstances.

So now, South America has to deal with two more Mexican teams than usual.

But there are just as many questions now with five teams involved in the tournament. How will Chivas and San Luis fare in the knockout rounds? After all, they will not have had any meaningful international competition prior to the Round of 16, and their first foray into South America will be visiting a team that has been battle-tested and emerged better because of it, and will likely be hungry for a spot in the quarterfinals. How will that affect Chivas and San Luis?

The same scenario as always exists now than it did before with regards to InterLiga: what if a weak team makes it? Veracruz nearly pulled the feat in 2006 by reaching the finals, but lost to Chivas 2-1. However, the CONCACAF Champions League stripped InterLiga of four clubs, plus the direct passage given to Morelia, San Luis and Chivas further limited the field. It wasn't quite limited enough to have had the lowest of the low participate - we were spared watching Atlas battle Indios, for instance. But InterLiga could send Estudiantes and Jaguares to South America, a pair of clubs who have had more than their share of recent struggles.

InterLiga 2010 will likely be an entertaining tournament. With the Clasico Regiomontano as well as three America games on the slate, there will be some quality football played in Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles. But with a field that is more diluted than usual, questions surrounding the tournament's prizes abound.