The Mexican Club León, drawn to the Flamengo group at this year’s Club World Cup in the United States, was excluded from the competition for FIFA (International Football Federation) for breaking the multiprouping regulation, the top football entity announced on Friday (21).
After opening a lawsuit against León and Pachuca, two Mexican clubs belonging to the same owner (Pachuca Group), “FIFA’s appeal committee (…) decided not to admit Club Leon in the competition and announce his replacement in timely time,” says the note.
“Both CF Pachuca and Club Leon do not comply with the criteria on the ownership of several clubs in the World Cup regulations,” added FIFA.
Article 10.1 of the Tournament Regulation stipulates that no participant may “have values or actions of any other club in the competition, or have a commercial bond with them”.
The Alajuelense, from Costa Rica, who could inherit the vacancy, had denounced the participation of the two Mexican clubs in the World Cup, whose first edition in this new format with 32 teams will be played from June 15 to July 13, in the United States.
León was in Group D, which has Flamengo as a key head, as well as the Chelsea of England and the Tunisia specimen.
Clubs claim to be independent
On the morning of Friday, in Mexico, both Pachuca and León published on the social network X their respective reactions to the notification they received from FIFA communicating that one of the two would be excluded from the Club World Cup.
Neither club acknowledged that the resolution had already been applied to León. In fact, both expect the determination of FIFA’s secretary general “in the coming days”.
Given the announcement that one of the two teams would be excluded, Pachuca was the first to react by issuing a statement emphasizing that “the reasons for this decision were not communicated.”
Seven minutes later, León stated that in recent months “all evidence and documents that confirm that the club is operating independently in all financial, administrative and sports aspects.”
León anticipated that, if excluded from the World Cup, “with the same rights that have guaranteed us a place in the field, we will go to the last consequences in the highest sports courts.”
In January, León hired Colombian star James Rodríguez as a reinforcement for the tournament.
The Pachuca Group has been, since its foundation in 1995, owner of the Pachuca Club. In 2011, the consortium acquired León.
Mexican businessman Jesús Martínez Patiño is president of the Pachuca Group, his brother Armando Martínez Patiño is president of Pachuca and his son Jesús Martínez Murguía is president of León.
León qualified for the Club World Cup by beating the Concacaf Champions Cup of 2023; Pachuca won the same tournament in 2024.
At the end of last year, Jesús Martínez Patiño publicly announced his intention to sell 51% of León’s shares before 2027.
