Hard punishment
FIFA throws the club of ex-Bavaria star from the club World Cup
21.03.2025 – 6:10 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
The controversial tournament in summer is still a few months away-but there is already the first vertebrae: The World Association has now sanctioned a top club from Central America.
The Mexican Top Association Club León was excluded from the club World Cup in the USA in summer. This was decided by the FIFA Appeal Commission on Friday.
The reason for this is that Club León and the also qualified CF Pachuca have the same owner – the entrepreneur José de Jesús Martínez Patño. In November 2024, FIFA initiated an investigation in which the affected clubs should prove that they are acting independently. The World Association now saw this as not given.
Both clubs had qualified for the club World Cup by winning the Concacaf Champions Cup (2023 and 2024). Club León, in which the former Bayern professional James Rodríguez has been under contract since January, would have been hit by Chelsea in Group D.
The FIFA announced that it will name a replacement association at a later date. The club World Cup will be held for the first time as a four-week tournament. With twelve teams, Europe is the largest group of participants. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are represented from the Bundesliga.