Liga MX club León finally lost its legal match against FIFA on Tuesday and is out of the 2025 Club World Cup.
Either Los Angeles FC or another Liga MX team, América, will be the late replacement to play in the 32-team tournament to be held in the United States next month.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal from Club León, Club Pachuca and Costa Rican club Asociación Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in regards to FIFA’s decision to replace the Liga MX team in the 2025 Club World Cup.
Club León originally earned a spot in the international tournament after winning the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup, before FIFA ruled that the team had to forfeit due to a breach of multi-ownership rules.
Grupo Pachuca, owners of Pachuca and León, attempted to reverse the decision by presenting a case to CAS, but were unsuccessful.
“All appeals were consolidated into a single CAS case which was heard at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 5 May 2025…” CAS said in a statement. “The CAS Panel has issued an Operative Decision dismissing the three appeals and ruled that Pachuca and Club León failed to meet the criteria in the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Club 2025 (Art. 10.1) concerning multiple club ownership.”
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.
“The sentence was harsh, the rivals very influential, the pressure intense, and the stakes very high,” said club León in a statement. “But those who have suffered most along the way have been our people: fans and footballers deserve more respect from an organization dedicated to promoting sports. But from the beginning, no sporting principle existed in this case.”
Grupo Pachuca’s Club de Fútbol Pachuca was still cleared to play after securing a spot for winning the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
FIFA will now hold one playoff match between Club América and LAFC.
“LAFC would participate as runner-up to Club Léon in the 2023 Concacaf Champions League through which Club Léon had qualified,” FIFA’s statement said.
“Club América would participate as the top-ranked team in the FIFA Club World Cup confederation ranking through which qualification is also determined. The winner of the play-off would qualify unless legal proceedings rule otherwise.”
The date and venue for the playoff match has yet to be determined.
The winner of the game will replace Club Léon in the Club World Cup’s Group D, facing Chelsea FC, Flamengo and ES Tunis.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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