Concacaf stirs up $10 million match

LAFC has two famous stars Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud in the squad.

On the morning of June 1, two giants of the Concacaf, Los Angeles FC and Club America, will face each other for the final spot in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.

After Mexico's Club Leon was disqualified from the tournament for failing to comply with regulations on "multiple owners", FIFA decided to hold a play-off to find a replacement.

The winner of the upcoming playoff will receive $10 million from the $1 billion prize fund of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. If they perform better, the amount of money LAFC or Club America can receive could reach tens of millions of dollars.

This is a number that could change the lives of these two teams. However, FIFA has upset Club America and many Mexican fans by choosing LAFC's home stadium, BMO Stadium, as the venue for the playoffs.

FIFA Club World Cup chief executive Manolo Zubiria said the organisers had carefully considered all options before choosing the BMO. “The BMO was the best option in a tight timeframe and we are happy to host the match there,” Zubiria said.

FIFA leaders affirmed: “We run the match, manage the entire stadium, from organization to security at BMO Stadium. Both teams are allocated tickets equally, separate fan areas of the two teams, ensuring the fairest playing conditions.”

Previously, Club Leon also claimed that they were treated unfairly by FIFA. FIFA assessed that James Rodriguez's team was related to Pachuca (another club participating in the tournament) in terms of ownership shares, so they could not participate in the 2025 Club World Cup.

Costa Rica's Alajuelense then offered to play in Club Leon's place, but FIFA rejected it. The Costa Rican side claimed that FIFA acted "inconsistently" by dropping Leon, but then selecting LAFC and Club America for the play-offs.

Alajuelense's leadership believes that FIFA is too biased towards teams in the US and Mexico. Previously, FIFA also upset many teams in MLS and Mexico when it allowed Inter Miami to participate in the 2025 Club World Cup.

Lionel Messi's team is not the actual champion of MLS 2024, having lost in the playoffs for the title. However, FIFA has chosen Inter Miami as the wildcard for the host club, having won the MLS 2024 regular season.

Source: https://znews.vn/concacaf-day-song-voi-tran-cau-10-trieu-usd-post1556898.html