sortiwa
Mexican soccer club León finally lost its legal match against Fifa on Tuesday and is officially out of the Club World Cup. Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC or another Mexican team, Club América, will likely be the late replacement in the United States next month after a yet-to-be-scheduled one-game playoff.
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 qualifier, 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.
The ruling says that “Fifa is responsible for designating the final qualified team to participate in the Club World Cup 2025.”
The worldwide governing body for soccer confirmed last month that it was considering a one-game playoff between LAFC and Club América for that purpose, to be held before the start of the Club World Cup on 14 June.
Fifa has not announced a date and venue for the potential playoff game, which would guarantee the winner almost $10m from the $1bn Club World Cup prize money fund.
As it currently stands, the schedule is tight. LAFC are scheduled to play a game at least every four days with one exception: A six-day break between league games on 18 and 24 May. Club América’s schedule is up on the air – they complete a two-legged quarterfinal tie in the Liga MX playoffs on 10 May, and there are no scheduled dates for the semi-final stage at time of writing. Should they qualify for the Club World Cup, Club América will likely have to back out of a scheduled friendly v San Diego FC set for 20 June.
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 16 June, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville, and Flamengo of Brazil in Orlando.
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.
after newsletter promotion
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 for a sale to be completed 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 that the governing body “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 by Costa Rican club Alajuelense to replace León was incorporated into the overall case and also rejected on Tuesday, CAS said.
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.
Fifa has not offered a reason why América – one of Mexico’s best-supported teams – iss eligible to be included when Fifa’s 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 $9.55m payment from FIFA for a CONCACAF team, plus a share of the $1bn in total prize money based on results at the month-long tournament.
Source link