Club América's coach André Jardine has addressed the possibility of his team replacing León in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup following León's expulsion for violating multi-ownership regulations.
"We are doing our best to earn a place on the field. Hopefully. Of course, I want to, but it's not a matter that concerns us. If at some point the spot is decided based on the FIFA ranking, I think we deserve it because we are the best in that criterion, and we'll be there," Jardine stated in an interview with Claro Sports.
The situation arose after FIFA excluded Club León from the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 13, 2025. León had originally secured their spot by winning the CONCACAF Champions League in 2023, defeating Los Angeles FC in the final.
Despite América being the current three-time champion of Mexican football, the team has not won any international tournaments recently, including the CONCACAF Champions Cup since 2016. However, their status as the highest-ranked team in the region strengthens their case for inclusion in the tournament.
León's sporting director Rodrigo Fernández has indicated that the club will fight to avoid exclusion, with plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS/TAS). Meanwhile, other clubs such as Costa Rica's Alajuelense have also expressed interest in filling the vacant spot should León's appeal fail.
León's president, Jesús Martínez, has firmly rejected the idea of loaning star player James Rodríguez to Pachuca to compete in the tournament. "I have in my mind to fight. I don't think this is something that can be viable. What we want is for what we earned on the field to be respected, to try to make FIFA reconsider and, through everything we do, vote in our favor," Martínez declared.
As international football takes a break, América will play a friendly match against Atlante this Saturday at their training grounds, with non-internationally called-up starters expected to play for 45 minutes. The club will return to league action the following Saturday against Tigres at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes in Matchday 13 of the tournament.
