MIAMI (AP) — Los Angeles FC will host Mexico's América on May 31 in their Club World Cup qualification playoff, FIFA finalized on Friday.
The winner will get group-stage games against Chelsea in Atlanta on June 16, then Esperance from Tunisia in Nashville, and Flamengo of Brazil in Orlando.
The play-in game is needed to complete the 32-team lineup of the tournament that starts on June 14 because another Mexican club, León, was removed. León broke tournament integrity rules being in the same ownership group as another Club World Cup entry, Pachuca.
FIFA announced the date and venue 10 days after León’s appeal against expulsion was lost at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
LAFC’s 22,000-seat home BMO Stadium — next to the LA Memorial Coliseum and shared with Angel City — will stage the game at 7:30 p.m. local time.
That is several hours after the Champions League final in Munich between Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. Both have qualified for the Club World Cup.
The Club World Cup entry for LAFC or América is worth an initial $9.55 million payment from FIFA for a CONCACAF region team, plus a share of the $1 billion in total prize money based on results at the month-long tournament. It is being played in 11 U.S. cities.
FIFA planned the LAFC-América game in March after first ruling to expel León, which qualified by winning the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
FIFA said LAFC would be in the playoff because it was the beaten finalist against León, while América was the next best ranked team in its Club World Cup confederation ranking.
It was unclear why América — one of Mexico’s best-supported teams — is eligible when FIFA rules cap each country at two entries unless it has more than two winners of a continental championship in the four-year qualifying period through 2024.
Mexico already has Pachuca and Monterrey in the tournament that has been heavily promoted by FIFA President Gianni Infantino with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump has said he will attend the July 13 final at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to present the gold trophy. It has spent much of the past few weeks in the Oval Office at the White House.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Los Angeles FC's Denis Bouanga, right, scores on a penalty kick during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The FIFA club World Cup trophy sits between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a FIFA task force meeting on the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong officials on Wednesday proposed expanding oversight of building maintenance projects and stronger fire safety steps after a blaze in November killed at least 161 people and displaced thousands.
The blaze that spread across seven towers in an apartment complex raised questions about corruption, negligence and government oversight in the city's building maintenance projects, piling pressure on Hong Kong leader John Lee’s administration and Beijing’s “patriots-only” governance system for the city.
In the newly elected legislature's first meeting, Lee said the fire exposed the need for reform and pledged that the investigation by law enforcement agencies and a judge-led independent committee would be thorough.
“We will fairly pursue accountability and take disciplinary action based on facts against anyone who should bear responsibility, regardless of whether they are from within or outside the government, or whether they are junior or senior staff,” Lee said.
To combat bid-rigging, Lee's administration proposed that the Urban Renewal Authority play a greater role in helping homeowners choose contractors for building maintenance projects.
Officials planned to set up a preselected list of consultants and contractors based on official background checks and past reviews from homeowners. The authority would facilitate homeowners in tendering and bid evaluation more.
The government also suggested requiring big renovation projects to hire a third-party professional to supervise the work, necessitating fire department's approval before shutting down major fire safety installations, and banning smoking on any construction site.
Proposals for law changes linked to the smoking ban were expected to be submitted for the legislature's review within the next few weeks, while officials were still discussing some of the other suggestions with the Urban Renewal Authority.
Authorities have pointed to substandard netting and foam boards installed during renovations at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex as factors that contributed to the fire in November. They also said some fire alarms did not work in tests.
Political analysts and observers worried the tragedy could be the “tip of an iceberg" in Hong Kong, a city whose skyline is built on high-rise buildings. Suspicions of bid-rigging and use of hazardous construction materials in renovation projects across other housing estates have left many fearing the disaster could be repeated.
A man walks past the burnt buildings after a deadly fire that started Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Friday, Nov. 28 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
FILE - Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)
