Chelsea facing Club World Cup shake-up after FIFA kicks group rivals Club Leon out of this summer’s competition

Chelsea will not face Club Leon at this summer’s Club World Cup after the Mexican side were kicked out of the competition by FIFA.

When the draw for the tournament was made in December, Chelsea and Leon landed in Group D, alongside Flamengo of Brazil and Tunisian outfit Esperance de Tunis.

However, Leon have now been removed from the competition due to a breach of FIFA’s regulations surrounding multi-club ownership.

Both Leon and Liga MX rivals CF Pachuca are owned by Grupo Pachuca, and although both had initially qualified for the expanded 32-team tournament, their participation was challenged on the grounds that they share ownership.

The challenge was made by Costa Rican side Alajuelense, who argued that the participation of both Grupo Pachuca-owned clubs violated FIFA’s rules. Under article 10.1 of the Club World Cup regulations, no participating club may directly or indirectly hold or deal in the securities or shares of another participant. 

FIFA confirmed the result of that challenge in a statement on Thursday.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will feature 32 teams – 25 more than in the previous edition

The statement read: ‘Following disciplinary proceedings opened against CF Pachuca and Club Leon, the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to refer the case directly to the FIFA Appeal Committee in accordance with article 56 paragraph 3 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

‘After having evaluated all evidence on file, the chairman of the FIFA Appeal Committee has decided that CF Pachuca and Club Leon failed to meet the criteria on multi-club ownership defined under article 10 paragraph 1 of the Regulations for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.

‘In line with article 10 paragraph 4 of the Regulations for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, FIFA has determined that Club León will be removed from the competition, with the club to be admitted as a replacement to be announced in due course.’

Leon responded to the ruling with a strongly worded statement of their own, expressing ‘disagreement’ with FIFA’s decision and vowing to explore legal action.

‘Club Leon expresses its disagreement with the decision made by FIFA, which could exclude us from the next Club World Cup,’ the statement read. ‘In recent months, we have presented each piece of evidence and documents confirming that Club Leon operates autonomously in all economic, administrative, and sporting aspects.

‘Should Club Leon be prevented from participating in the 2025 Club World Cup with the same rights with which it earned a place on the pitch, we will pursue the matter to the fullest extent possible in the highest sporting courts.’

FIFA has not yet named the team who will take Leon’s place, with an announcement expected in due course.

Meanwhile, Pachuca’s participation in the 2025 Club World Cup remains in place. They will face Real Madrid, Al-Hilal and Red Bull Salzburg in Group H.

Pachuca qualified by winning the 2024 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, after Leon won the same tournament in 2023.

Chelsea – who won the Club World Cup in February 2022 when it was a seven-team event – qualified on account of their Champions League final victory over Man City in the 2020-21 season.