May 7 – Mexico’s Club León have lost their battle to remain in the Club World Cup finals in the USA this summer after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Pachuca and Club León – both owned by the Pachuca Group – had failed to meet FIFA’s criteria concerning multiple club ownership.
FIFA wasted no time in issuing a statement saying that León’s place in Group S will now be taken by the winners of a play-off between Los Angeles FC and Club América.
The rational behind the choice of LAFC was that they were runners-up to Club León in the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup, while Club América were the top-ranked team in the Club World Cup confederation ranking at the conclusion of the 2024 edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, the last season taken into account for clubs to qualify for the 2025 finals.
No date has been set for the play-off.
In March the FIFA Appeal Committee ruled that Pachuca and Club León broke multiple club ownership rules, and removed León from the competition. Pachuca Group argued that they had adjusted their ownership structure to match the rules operated by UEFA over multiple club ownership. They did so in the light of no FIFA guidance on what was allowable with only UEFA’s regulations to use as a benchmark.
A CAS communique said that “the Panel examined the evidence, including the Club León trust set up by the owners of the club, and concluded that this trust was insufficient to comply with the Regulations. Consequently, Club León remains excluded from the competition and Pachuca remains qualified.”
As part of the CAS ruling the arbitrators also dismissed a separate appeal from Costa Rican club Asociación Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) against Club León, Pachuca and FIFA, filed on February 3, requesting that Club León and Pachuca’s participation broke FIFA regulations and that one of them should be removed in favour of LDA.
The winners of the play-off for Group D will be in action in Atlanta, Nashville and Orlando.
For FIFA it is a big win as both LAFC and Club America are a bigger crowd-draw than Club Leon. What would be an even bigger win for FIFA is that if LAFC beat Club America they played their games in the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
In a tournament that to date has seen FIFA play fast and loose with the interpretations of its own rules to get the optimal commercial solution (the ridiculous inclusion of Inter Miami being the most glaring), don’t rule a venue change out if LAFC do win the play-off.
After all, ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’, or in this case as many dollars as possible in FIFA’s Club World Cup’s US smash-and-grab raid. Remember the days when football tournaments used to have the competition’s sporting integrity at its core?
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