Leon loses Club World Cup appeal with play-off to decide replacement | OneFootball

Mexican side Club Leon has finally lost its legal match against Fifa and is out of the Club World Cup. Los Angeles FC or another Mexican team, Club America, will be the late replacement in the United States next month.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges rejected Leon’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 Leon 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.

Leon criticised 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 will let Fifa organise a planned play-off game between LAFC and America to complete the lineup for the tournament that starts on June 14 in Miami.

Fifa has not announced a date and venue for the play-off game that will guarantee the winner almost $10 million from the $1 billion Club World Cup prize money fund.

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

Leon 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.

Fifa previously said LAFC would be in the play-off because it was the beaten finalist against Le�n in the 2023 Concacaf Champions League. Fifa explained America’s s place was justified as the next-best ranked team in the Club World Cup confederation ranking.

It was unclear why America— 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.