Mexico's León loses appeal against FIFA, will not play in Club World Cup

GENEVA (AP) — Mexican soccer club León lost its legal challenge against FIFA on Tuesday and is out of the Club World Cup in the United States next month, when it will be replaced by either Los Angeles FC or another Mexican team, América.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges rejected León’s attempt to overturn being removed by FIFA from the 32-team tournament for being in the same ownership group as another Club World Cup entry, Pachuca.

“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," the court said in a statement.

León criticized FIFA in a statement that spoke of its “very influential” opponents.

"Our fans and players deserved more respect from an organization dedicated to promoting sports, but from the beginning no sporting principles existed in the case,” the expelled club said.

The urgent ruling one day after the appeal hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland, lets FIFA finalize organizing a playoff game between LAFC and América to complete the lineup for the tournament that starts on June 14 in Miami.

FIFA said Tuesday it had not yet confirmed a date and venue for the playoff game that will guarantee the winner almost $10 million from the Club World Cup prize money fund of $1 billion.

The legal dispute played out in Switzerland five months after FIFA let León go into the tournament draw in Miami despite the pending multi-club ownership issue.

León was drawn in a group to play Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville, and Flamengo of Brazil in Orlando. Those games will now involve LAFC or América.

Club ownership rules

FIFA's new rules to protect the integrity of its prized, revamped club event prohibit two or more teams being in the same ownership group. That standard has been in place in UEFA-run European competitions for more than 20 years and is typically solved by management changes at one of the two clubs, which can be placed into an ownership blind trust.

León and Pachuca qualified for the Club World Cup by respectively winning the 2023 and 2024 editions of the CONCACAF championship.

The owner of León and Pachuca, Grupo Pachuca, said it was prepared to sell one of the clubs to comply with FIFA rules but that it was not possible before the tournament started.

After FIFA officials decided León should be removed, FIFA appeal judges formally excluded León in March for non-compliance with the rules.

At a previous appeal hearing at FIFA, León argued FIFA "should follow in the footsteps of UEFA and permit the implementation of a trust as a solution to the issue of multi-club ownership.”

FIFA lawyers argued that despite the intention of León’s owners, they still had not been compliant with rules when signing a Club World Cup entry agreement in February.

A separate and long-shot appeal to CAS by Costa Rican club Alajuelense to replace León was incorporated into the overall case and also rejected on Tuesday, the court said.

Late playoff decider

FIFA previously said LAFC would be in the playoff because it was the beaten finalist against León in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League. FIFA explained América’s place was justified as the next-best ranked team in the Club World Cup confederation ranking.

It was unclear why América — one of Mexico’s best-supported teams — was eligible to be included when FIFA rules cap each country at two entries unless it has more than two winners of a continental championship in the qualifying period.

The entry that was fought over by lawyers is worth an initial $9.55 million payment from FIFA for a CONCACAF team, plus a share of the $1 billion in total prize money based on results at the month-long tournament, being played in 11 U.S. cities.

European challenge

Most of the money will be taken home by the 12 European teams that qualified, including recent Champions League winners Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea, plus Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. Teams that did not qualify include the new champion of England, Liverpool, nor the current leaders in Spain and Italy, Barcelona and Napoli.

The lineup also includes Lionel Messi and his club Inter Miami who got an invitation last October from FIFA President Gianni Infantino despite not winning a CONCACAF or Major League Soccer title. Seattle Sounders, the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League winner, is in the competition.

The first expanded edition of what is now a four-yearly FIFA club tournament has been heavily promoted by Infantino, who has leveraged his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump to place the golden trophy in the Oval Office at the White House ahead of the tournament.

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AP Sports Writer Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed.

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