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| FIFA rejects possibility of inviting Barcelona to Club World Cup 2025. |
The vacant ticket appeared after Mexican club Leon was disqualified for violating the rules on multi-ownership. However, FIFA is awaiting a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) before making the next move.
Only when there is a final ruling from TAS after a hearing in Switzerland in early May will FIFA decide how to handle the 32nd ticket to this year’s tournament. But according to Mundo Deportivo , the possibility of Barca being invited as a replacement is almost non-existent.
At that time, Lionel Messi missed the chance to face Barcelona in the US. Inter Miami was one of 32 teams that qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup thanks to their achievement of winning the Supporters’ Shield last season.
On March 21, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee disqualified Leon from the tournament due to its overlapping ownership relationship with Pachuca. Both clubs share the same owner and management board. Although Leon appealed to TAS, FIFA maintained its position.
Mundo Deportivo reports that FIFA is concerned that Leon and Pachuca are still under the direct control of the same executive group. Although both clubs have proposed selling one of their teams to make the rules legal, FIFA believes this is just a formal solution to circumvent the rules.
The world’s most powerful football organization stressed: “Even if the sale of the club is done now, it does not change the fact that both clubs violated Article 10 of the Regulations when submitting their application to participate in the competition on 6 February 2025. This only makes it clearer that the multi-club ownership structure still exists.”
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will feature 32 teams for the first time in history, with a total prize money of $1 billion (about £776 million), a record in history.
The book “Fear and Loathing in La Liga” by famous sports journalist Sid Lowe, a Spanish football expert on the Guardian , published in 2014, tells stories on and off the field surrounding El Clasico matches throughout history.
