Leon's Club World Cup appeal rejected, FIFA says playoff between LAFC and Club America will determine final tournament spot

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected appeals from all three of Club Leon, Club Pachuca and Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) in relation to a spot at the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.

FIFA's appeal committee declared in March that two of Liga MX's participants in the competition - Club Leon and Pachuca - breached competitions regulations due to multi-club ownership rules. Due to the breach, FIFA's secretary general opted to remove Leon from the competition - and today, denied appeals from both clubs regarding the removal.

The appeals were heard Tuesday at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Leon and Pachuca's claims were dismissed by the CAS panel, as they failed to meet criteria concerning multi-club ownership. The panel reviewed all of the evidence presented to them, including a trust set up by the owners of the club, but came to a conclusion that the trust was insufficient in terms of compliance under regulations.

A separate appeal was filed by by LDA against Leon and Pachuca in February claiming that one of, or both, teams should be removed and that LDA should replace one of them in the competition. That case was heard by CAR in Madrid on April 23, and was rejected by the CAS panel on Tuesday as well.

CAS has ruled that it is now up to FIFA to designate the final team to qualify for this summer's competition.

In March, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that there was a plan to have MLS side Los Angeles FC (LAFC) take on Liga MX side Club America in a one-game playoff to determine who will take the final Club World Cup roster spot. However, that was not official until the CAS hearing regarding multi-club ownership was determined.

Infaninto initially said: "What we're looking at is that, if the CAS upholds the Appeals Committee's decision, FIFA's intention is to play a playoff match between the team that lost the CONCACAF Champions League final, LAFC, and the next-place team in the rankings, which is America."

With Tuesday's results now confirmed, it is expected that FIFA will declare a date for the playoff.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is set to be the largest version of the competition in history to date. Expanded to 32 teams, it features eight groups of four teams with the top 16 advancing into a World Cup-style knockout round bracket.

The 2025 Club World Cup begins at Hard Rock Stadium on June 14, when Inter Miami takes on Egyptian giants Al Ahly SC.

As for the one-game playoff, a date has yet to be announced, though it's expected that it will happen in May prior to the international break from June 2-10 that is followed by the start of the tournament.