Chelsea's Club World Cup opponents kicked out of tournament weeks before event

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an appeal from Club Leon to be reinstated into the Club World Cup. The outfit were banned from the tournament as they share an ownership group with a fellow Mexican side Pachuca, who are also in the competition.

The CAS heard legal appeals from both outfits before it was ruled that Leon would remain out of the competition as their inclusion would breach multi-club rules. Pachuca will still compete in the Club World Cup.

Costa Rican outfit Deportiva Alajuelense also appealed to take the vacant position as they had spotted the breach initially, but it was unsuccessful. Instead, FIFA will stage a play-off match between Club America and outfit Los Angeles FC, with the winner set to be granted the final spot in Group D.

The date and location of the play-off match is yet to be determined as FIFA were forced to wait to learn whether the CAS would uphold their ruling.

The winner of the match will face Chelsea, Brazilian outfit Flamengo and Tunisian side ES Tunis. They will also earn at least £7.1million ($9.55m) in guaranteed fees and have the opportunity to earn a further £1.49m ($2m) for every group stage win, as well as additional prize money through each stage of the tournament.

The court said: "The CAS Panel has issued an Operative Decision dismissing the three appeals and ruled that Pachuca and Club Leon failed to meet the criteria in the Regulations for the Fifa World Cup Club 2025 concerning multiple club ownership.

"The Panel examined the evidence, including the Club Leon trust set up by the owners of the club, and concluded that this trust was insufficient to comply with the Regulations. Consequently, Club Leon remains excluded from the competition and Pachuca remains qualified.

"A separate appeal by [Alajuelense] against Club Leon, Pachuca and Fifa, filed on 3 February 2025, requested that Club Leon and Pachuca's participation in the Club World Cup was contrary to Fifa regulations and that one of the clubs, or both, should be removed. The appeal also requested that [Alajuelense] should be admitted to the competition in place of a removed team. This case was heard by CAS in person in Madrid on 23 April 2025 and was also rejected today."