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León was drawn in a group to play Chelsea on June 16, then Esperance from Tunisia, and Flamengo from Brazil. Those games will now involve LAFC or Club América.
FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA Media)
Mexican football 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.
Late playoff decider
FIFA previously said LAFC would be in the playoffs 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.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
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