Club Leon gaffer slams FIFA and Gianni Infantino over Club World Cup exclusion

Club Leon boss Eduardo Berizzo has come out and slammed FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino over his team being omitted from the 2025 Club World Cup due to rules regarding multiple-club ownership.

“La FIFA ya prepara reemplazantes en vez de esperar a la decisión del TAS”

Eduardo Berizzo, D.T. de León, en conferencia de prensa @FeintSoccerMX #Leon #MundialDeClubes pic.twitter.com/22cRZdFVc0

In March, FIFA decided that Leon were not qualified to play in the first 32-team competition after they failed to match FIFA's multi-club ownership requirements, and Infantino has since donated their place in a playoff game between Club America and Los Angeles FC.

But the Mexican club has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and, at a news conference, Berizzo had some strong words against the decision.

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Club Leon boss slams FIFA and Infantino

Club Leon's head coach, Eduardo Berizzo, discussed how the decision has affected the team's performance after the club lost to Cruz Azul. He stated:

The FIFA President cannot comment on a supposed replacement without waiting for the ruling. I think his words carry significant weight and he shouldn’t have commented; he should have remained neutral until the CAS ruling.

The rules of competition of the 2025 Club World Cup declared that clubs owned by the same legal entity cannot compete. FIFA decided that Leon and the other Mexican clubs competing in the tournament belonged to the same ownership structure, but Berizzo has criticized FIFA for the lack of transparency. He said:

If the world were the way I wanted it to be, people like that wouldn’t lead organisations like this. FIFA must demonstrate that it is an organisation of integrity, and it isn’t. In the past, it hasn’t been."

Not only with our elimination, but with all this, which involves a fix, a hidden interest to see which team goes, who doesn’t , why teams go, why others leave or why you get eliminated. As long as there’s no clarity or transparency about that, they’ll always remain suspects."

We live in a football world, in organisations and institutions that, instead of representing transparency and setting an example for all citizens, increasingly make us suspicious and make us feel small in the face of what’s happening."

In a football world where everyone should feel supported, a part of, and proud to be a part of, sometimes you feel like running away.

The Leon boss also targeted his country's national association, the Mexican Football Federation. Berizzo claimed:

You feel treated unfairly; you feel part of a football system governed by individuals who work for subterranean interests that make decisions. It's very striking that the Mexican Football Federation hasn't said a word about this issue.

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