Chelsea is set to participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, yet their initial opponent remains undecided following the rejection of Club Leon’s appeal to be reinstated. The tournament, which has been revamped, is scheduled to commence in the United States in just over five weeks. Club Leon, a Mexican team, was expelled from the competition in March after being found guilty of breaching multi-club ownership regulations. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a ruling on Tuesday, upholding the decision to exclude Club Leon.
A media release stated: “All appeals were consolidated into a single CAS case which was heard at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 5 May 2025. The President of the CAS Panel for this case was Prof. Roberto Moreno (Paraguay), with Prof. Massimo Coccia (Italy) and Dr. Daniel Cravo Souza (Brazil) as co-arbitrators. 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 release further mentioned: “A full CAS Award with reasons for the Decision will be issued in due course. A separate appeal by LDA against Club León, Pachuca and FIFA, filed on 3 February 2025, requested that Club León and Pachuca’s participation in the Club World Cup was contrary to FIFA regulations and that one of the clubs, or both, should be removed.”
It concluded: “The President of the CAS Panel for this case was Prof. Roberto Moreno (Paraguay), with Mr. David Arias (Spain) and Mr. Juan Pablo Arriagada (Chile) as co-arbitrators. As a result of the CAS ruling, FIFA is responsible for designating the final qualified team to participate in the Club World Cup 2025.”
Following these developments, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that MLS team LAFC, which includes players Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris, will face Club America of Mexico in a playoff. The victor of this playoff will advance to the group stage and face Chelsea in their opening match of Group D. Chelsea’s group also includes ES Tunis and Flamengo. Participation in the tournament ensures clubs a financial reward ranging from £9.92 million to £29.58 million, with the winners set to earn approximately £97 million.
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