LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — A verdict is expected Tuesday in Mexican team Leon’s legal dispute with FIFA over entry to the Club World Cup in the United States next month.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is hosting León’s appeal Monday which aims to overturn expulsion by FIFA because the club is in the same ownership group as Pachuca, another Mexican team that qualified for the 32-team tournament that starts June 14.
CAS said Monday it aims to give the urgent verdict of its judges on Tuesday in Lausanne.
Soccer’s world body is preparing to replace Leon with a one-off playoff game between Los Angeles FC and another Mexican team América if CAS rules in its favor.
FIFA rules for the Club World Cup to protect tournament integrity prohibit more than one team having the same owners.
León and Pachuca qualified for the Club World Cup by respectively winning the 2023 and 2024 editions of the continental championship for the North American region, known as CONCACAF.
Both clubs owned by Grupo Pachuca were placed in different four-team groups at the tournament draw hosted by FIFA in Miami in December despite the multi-club ownership issue being unresolved.
León was drawn to play Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville and Flamengo of Brazil in Orlando.
FIFA judges then excluded León in a ruling in March, deciding that the clubs’ ownership structure “clearly indicates centralized decision-making under a single authority, which is inconsistent with FIFA’s principles of competitive integrity and operational independence.”
The entry being fought over by lawyers is worth an initial $9.55 million payment from FIFA plus a share of the $1 billion in total prize money, depending on results in the group stage and knockout rounds.
The Club World Cup lineup includes teams that won a continental championship over a four season period from 2020-24 or who had a high ranking from consistent results in those competitions. FIFA also invited Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami to represent the host nation.
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