James Rodriguez, the Mexican club Leon player, launched a fierce attack against FIFA after his club was excluded from participating in the 2025 Club World Cup.
FIFA had announced the implementation of the “joint ownership” rule, which prevents more than one club owned by the same owner from participating in the Club World Cup. Lyon’s owner is also the owner of Mexican club Pachuca, which resulted in the exclusion of Pachuca from the upcoming global competition.
The exclusion came just two months after James moved to Lyon, hoping to participate in the World Cup this summer. This caused great anger for the Colombian international, who expressed this in statements in which he described football as “tainted.”
The former Real Madrid star said, “FIFA tainted football. What happened was a great injustice, and we all believe that.”
He added, “We won on the pitch and deserved to be in the Club World Cup. The club and the players were harmed by what happened. We need to reflect on that. This decision is completely unfair.”
He continued his attack on FIFA, saying, “The team that replaces us will be tainted. Football will be tainted.”
He concluded, “Many fans had planned to travel to the tournament. How can you tell them they can’t go? I have a lot of questions about all of this. It’s strange. I think FIFA needs to sort itself out.”
