Club World Cup Polemic: Leon Will Be Sold To Comply With FIFA Rules

Mexican club Leon and Pachuca will be questioned by FIFA regarding ownership (Instagram/@clubleon_oficial).

JAKARTA - Jesus Martinez, owner of a Mexican club, Pachuca and Leon, revealed that he is willing to sell control of one of his clubs in order to participate in the 2025 Club World Cup.

As is known, the two Mexican clubs were qualified to appear in the 2025 Club World Cup.

However, there are FIFA rules that do not allow clubs with the same owners to participate in the tournament.

"We told them (FIFA) that we had notified at the last meeting of owners of the MX League (Mexico Main League) that Leon was the team we were going to sell control of," Martinez said after the 2025 Club World Cup draw in Miami on Thursday, December 5, 2024, local time.

FIFA is currently investigating CF Pachuca and Leon because both are under the ownership of the Pachuca Group. This clearly violates multiproperty rules of the tournament.

So that both MX League teams can participate in the 2025 Club World Cup, Pachuca and Leon must prove that they operate as separate entities and without influence from each other.

"We plan to release the majority stake in the club (Leon) before 2027. However, I think we will retain some kind of sports control."

"What we want is to contribute to the growth of the Mexican league. If they see that shared ownership can have a negative impact, we are willing to help by all means," Martinez said again.

Martinez stressed that Pachuca will soon begin preparing for the 2025 Club World Cup even though their involvement is still uncertain.

Pachuca will face Real Madrid, Al Hilal, and RB Salzburg in Group H. Meanwhile, Leon will face Chelsea, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie, and Flamengo in Group D.

"Today will play against Chelsea, which makes me very happy. I'm sure Leon's people are going crazy, based on what happened today," Martinez said.

Pachuca president Armando Martinez confirmed that the investigation was still ongoing with open communication between the club and FIFA.

"They (FIFA) are very responsive and we have shown ourselves in everything we need to support, everything we have to do so that hobbies are not affected, so that the state is not affected, and so it is not affected," said Armando Martinez.

Pachuca qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup when they won the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, while Leon got a place in the tournament while lifting the CCC trophy in 2023.

FIFA did not disclose joint ownership regulations when the two MX League teams secured tickets to the tournament.

"We will come, until we hear otherwise, we will join this tournament. We are aware of what we are fighting for. We will prepare ourselves for that," said club legend Luis Montes.

Despite the draw, the source told ESPN that team participation in the tournament had not been confirmed.

Previously, the presence of Pachuca and Leon was protested by a club from Costa Rica, Alajuelense.

They threatened legal action as an effort to protest against FIFA's unclear policy.

If FIFA does not control Pachuca and Leon, Alajuelense is ready to sue the world football federation legally.