James Rodríguez made headlines last week after publicly criticizing FIFA for excluding Club León from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The Colombian star labeled the decision “a major injustice” and questioned the motives behind it. In response, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has addressed the midfielder’s comments directly.
On March 21, FIFA ruled that León and Pachuca violated Article 10.1 of the Club World Cup regulations due to shared ownership by Jesús Martínez Patiño. As a result, León was disqualified from the tournament, despite qualifying through sporting merit. James expressed his dissatisfaction, saying: “This isn’t fair. There’s a big interest behind who gets in. The fans spent money, the club did everything right on the field. This feels wrong.”
Infantino defended the decision, stating: “The FIFA Appeal Committee made its ruling based on the rules. Now, the case will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which will issue a final ruling soon, as we need clarity for the 32 teams.”
He emphasized that the CAS decision will dictate the next steps: “Once the decision is made, we’ll proceed accordingly. Everything must be settled in the coming hours so we can provide certainty to all participating clubs.”
