Bitter disappointment for Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner: According to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the FA Cup winner must forfeit its place in the Europa League.
Triumph was followed by a heavy blow: one day after defeating Liverpool FC in the Community Shield on Sunday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Crystal Palace will not be allowed to participate in the Europa League in the new season as hoped. It thus upheld UEFA’s decision to relegate the reigning FA Cup winners to the Conference League for violating its “multi-club ownership” rules.
Palace, accompanied by fan protests against UEFA, had appealed the decision to CAS. After last Friday’s hearing, club boss Steve Parish had expressed himself more confidently than ever. But now Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest will start in the Europa League, while Palace, led by coach Oliver Glasner, will have to play Fredrikstad FK (Norway) or FC Midtjylland (Denmark) in the Conference League play-offs on August 21.
Palace earned its place in the Europa League with a sensational FA Cup triumph over Manchester City. However, John Textor, a co-owner of the Eagles, is also the majority shareholder of Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyon, which also qualified for the Europa League, through his Eagle Football Group.
For reasons of sporting integrity, UEFA does not allow two or more clubs controlled by the same entity to compete in the same competition. And because Palace and Lyon failed to clarify the majority ownership structure and place shares in a blind trust by the March 1 deadline, the London club was initially excluded from the Europa League. According to the Eagles, Textor, who has since stepped down as Lyon boss, is not involved in sporting decisions and had agreed to sell his Palace shares in June, but this did not convince either the UEFA decision-makers or the CAS.
CAS: “The UEFA rules are clear”
“After reviewing the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, held shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with significant influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment,” the CAS press release said. “The panel also rejected CPFC’s argument that it had been treated unfairly compared to Nottingham Forest and OL. The panel considered that the UEFA rules are clear and do not allow for flexibility for clubs that are not compliant at the time of the assessment, as claimed by CPFC.”
It remains to be seen whether Palace will take further protest measures, as Parish is considering in this case. The only option left would be to take the matter to a court of law. For the time being, Palace will participate in a European cup for the first time in its 120-year history in 2025/26, but in its own opinion, it is the wrong one.
