James Rodriguez says it is a "grave injustice" that FIFA have decided to exclude his Club Leon side from the 2025 Club World Cup.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Club Leon expelled from Club World CupFIFA said team had failed to meet their criteriaRodriguez rails against "grave injustice"Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
FIFA announced that Leon were not eligible to play in this summer's Club World Cup as they had "failed to meet the criteria on multi-club ownership" defined under the competition's regulations. The Mexican side are owned by Grupo Pachuca, which also controls fellow Liga MX team CF Pachuca – who have also qualified for the event. As a result, they were kicked out for owning two teams, as that is not allowed. Now, Leon star Rodriguez has criticised the governing body, saying they have "stained football".
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT JAMES RODRIGUEZ SAID
He said, via The Athletic: “I think it’s a grave injustice. We all believe that. We won on the pitch. The club and the players are hurt by this. Thinking about this, if we’re out, it’s not fair. The team that would replace us would be stained, football would be stained. So many fans have planned to travel to the tournament, how do you tell them that they can’t go? I have a lot of questions about all this. It’s odd. I think FIFA has to get their things together. Football is stained by this.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leon qualified for the tournament by winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2023 but since then, the Club World Cup has been revamped, and new criteria are in place. The importance of competing in this tournament has only grown as the overall prize fund is £775 million ($1bn), with all 32 teams getting a piece of that pie. So Leon seem set to miss out on a big financial boost, too. They were poised to play Chelsea in the group stages, but that will no longer happen.
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?
Leon are set to present their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on April 23 to try to get back into the Club World Cup.
