Date now set for hearing as Club León look to fight to restore their spot in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

Club León now knows the date on which it will be decided whether or not it will participate in the 2025 Club World Cup after being expelled for violating the ownership regulations of the competition. Grupo Pachuca owns both Tuzos and the Panzas Verdes.

On April 23, in Madrid, the Emerald Club will present its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to resolve the issue and potentially be reinstated in the tournament, which kicks off in June in the United States.

The hearing was scheduled due to the case filed by Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, which claimed a violation of the Club World Cup regulations by Grupo Pachuca and requested their inclusion in the competition next summer, instead of Pachuca or León.

Alajuelense argued that they should take the place of one of the Pachuca Group teams in the Club World Cup. The hearing will take place in Madrid.

Currently, each party is expected to select an arbitrator and a judge will be appointed to decide whether León can participate in the tournament and if the spot belongs to Alajuelense. América and Tigres are other teams competing for the vacant spot left by León.

"It would be very unfortunate because then it wouldn’t be called the Club World Cup anymore. Call it 'The FIFA Friends' or 'The Club of Friends,' but the tournament has a name, and the regulations established by FIFA itself should be respected," said the lawyer for the Costa Rican team, if they are not included in the tournament held in the summer.

The runner-up of the Clausura 2025 will host Pumas Sunday for Matchday 13. Led by Eduardo Berizzo, the team aims to end a two-match losing streak in the tournament, with James Rodríguez playing a key role, having scored 2 goals and provided 5 assists in 11 matches with La Fiera.