Crystal Palace will play in the Conference League this season after losing their appeal against UEFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Eagles qualified for the Europa League after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final last season – winning the first major trophy in their history.
However, UEFA demoted them to the Conference League after ruling that the Premier League side were in breach of their multi-club ownership (MCO) rules – despite not technically being part of a MCO set-up.
Palace’s – now former – largest shareholder John Textor also owns French club Lyon, who had also qualified for the Europa League by finishing sixth in Ligue 1.
UEFA rules state that no one owner may have significant control over multiple clubs playing in the same competition and as Lyon finished higher in their league table – sixth compared to Palace’s 12th – they get to keep their place, despite Palace winning a major trophy.
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Palace have repeatedly argued that while Textor, through his Eagle Football Group, had a 43 per cent stake in the club, he was not involved in any major football decisions and had for over a year been attempting to sell his stake due to not having any influence at the club.
Clubs can circumnavigate the MCO rules, as the likes of INEOS-owned Manchester United and Nice have done previously, but the deadline to do so was March 1 – over two months before Palace’s shock FA Cup triumph.
Over the summer, Textor did finally sell his shares to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and now has absolutely zero connection to Palace but this did nothing to change UEFA’s mind.
Palace appealed the decision at CAS, hoping to be reinstated into Europe’s second-tier competition, with the hearing taking place on Friday, but on Monday it was announced that they had lost their case.
The ruling comes just a day after the south London club beat Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties at Wembley to win the FA Community Shield.
CAS statement on Crystal Palace appeal
‘The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by Crystal Palace FC (CPFC) against UEFA, Nottingham Forest FC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) concerning a decision by UEFA to remove CPFC from the UEFA Europa League 2025/2026 due to a breach of UEFA multi club ownership regulations.
‘As a result, CPFC will be admitted to compete in the UEFA Conference League 2025/2026.
‘After considering the evidence, the Panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date.
‘The Panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.
‘The Panel considered that the UEFA Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed.’
UEFA are set to confirm that Nottingham Forest have been promoted to take Palace’s place in the Europa League.
Ironically, Forest have collaborated far more with Textor’s various clubs like Lyon and Brazil side Botafago than Palace have ever done, a point that was reportedly raised at the CAS hearing.
The news is devastating for Palace, who will still play in European competition for the first time ever, with many fans, players and pundits believing the Eagles are being unfairly punished for what is essentially an administrative error.
Crystal Palace fans protest against UEFA during Community Shield win
During the Community Shield win on Sunday, Palace fans protested against European football’s governing body, chanting: F*** UEFA, F*** John Textor, F*** Marinakis (Evangelos Marinakis, Nottingham Forest’s owner).”
‘We win the FA Cup, we are justified to be in the Europa League,’ Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson told BBC Radio 5 Live after lifting the Shield.
‘For football purposes, we deserve to be in the Europa League. I think it would devalue the competition unfortunately if we weren’t in the Europa League.’
The Times report that the legal battles may not be over as Palace may seek compensation from UEFA, as the demotion could cost them up to £20million in prize money.
Moreover, Oliver Glasner’s side are not even guaranteed to play in the Conference League league phase as they must first take part in a two-legged play-off.
They will face either FC Midtjylland of Denmark or Fredrikstad FK of Norway, with the first-leg taking place on August 21 at Selhurst Park.
The 2026 Conference League final is being held at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany – ironically – the home of one of world football’s biggest MCO teams.
More to follow…
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