On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed the exclusion of Irish club Drogheda United from the Conference League. A decision that could also have consequences for Crystal Palace.
It was ultimately only a brief dream: for the first time since 2013, Drogheda United had qualified for European competition. As Irish cup winners, the team from the town of 44,000 north of Dublin should have been part of the draw for the second round of Conference League qualifying on Wednesday, but this will now not be the case.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a UEFA decision that the club had violated UEFA regulations on multi-club ownership. As a result, Drogheda United will be excluded from the 2025/26 Conference League season. The club’s downfall is the majority stake held by the Trivela Group. In addition to its shares in Drogheda United, the Danish football club Silkeborg IF, which has also qualified for the Conference League next season, is owned by the same investors.
Ignorance is no defense
According to the regulations, for reasons of sporting integrity, two or more clubs controlled by the same institution are not allowed to compete in the same competition. To avoid this situation, Manchester City and FC Girona, both part of the City Football Group, transferred shares to a blind trust last season so that the clubs could compete in the Champions League.
In the case of Drogheda United, however, this is not possible, and the club is the “victim” of a rule change: this year, such a change in ownership must take place before March 1, instead of June 3 as was previously the case. The appeal lodged by the team from the Irish Baltic coast, claiming that they were not aware of the new deadline, did not change anything.
The club announced the decision to its fans on Monday with “great regret and incomprehension”: “We completely disagree with this decision and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail.” Nevertheless, the club does not intend to let this setback get them down: “Instead, we will use it as motivation. Our club has never been given anything, and we have earned every inch through perseverance, resilience, and unity. And we will continue to do so.”
