Why FIFA Has Been Dragged To Court By Costa Rica Club

Fifa has been dragged to court by Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, a Costa Rican football club. The dispute is regarding the rules of the upcoming Club World Cup which is set to begin on 14 June and the finals will take place on 13 July.

According to the FIFA regulations, article 10.1, states that no club “may hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in the competition” or “be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club”.

The 30-time Costa Rican Champions believe they should replace one of the clubs involved in the controversy based on their rankings. They have initiated legal action by taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), where they’ve released an official statement, “arbitration procedure has been initiated”.

Alajuelense alleges that FIFA has violated its own regulations regarding multi-club ownership. Leon and Pachuca, which are both owned by the Pachuca Group were set to join the upcoming league. Jesus Martinez, the owner of the Pachuca Group, said that the intention was to put a majority of the shares for the Leon group for sale to comply with Fifa’s regulations.

Three clubs out of four reserved are from the Mexican side, and they believe they have an unfair advantage because of the shared ownership. They are expecting the conflict to end before the start of the tournament.

The club said, “The claim is based on the principles of eligibility set in the rules of the tournament,” “Those are the rules that FIFA established — there cannot be multi-ownership. There are two Mexican clubs from the same owner and the rulebook is clear. What we are asking is to review what FIFA itself established.” said a representative of the club.

The World Cup will take place in the United States in June. The tournament will have 63 matches across 11 cities. Teams are expected to earn millions from the tournament. Initially, the league featured 7 teams but announced an expansion with 32 teams in 2022. This year’s edition will be the first tournament to feature 32 teams. Alajuelense believes they deserve to be in the league and are willing to take every necessary step if denied.

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