Crystal Palace are expected to lodge an appeal having been forced to drop down to the Conference League after falling foul of UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership.
Palace qualified for the Europa League thanks to their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May, but under Article Five of UEFA’s club competition regulations, clubs wishing to be eligible for qualification in 2025-26 had to be able to demonstrate as of March 1 that no individual or legal entity had control or influence over more than one club in the same competition.
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) determined that American businessman John Textor’s interest in both Palace and Lyon meant only one of the clubs could enter the Europa League, with Lyon’s higher league position edging out Palace.
Palace will drop into the Conference League, with Nottingham Forest expected to replace them in the Europa League, though this was not immediately confirmed by UEFA. Forest have so far today not communicated anything on the issue.
However, minutes after the UEFA statement dropped, it was claimed by Sky Sports that Palace are not happy. The report says: “”First of all, I can tell you that Palace will be appealing to CAS. They are going to challenge this and are very angry about what UEFA have done.
“Lyon, who finished sixth in the French first division and have enormous debts, around €400m, they will play in the Europa League. While Palace, who have never broken any FFP rules, have been demoted.”
Read more at: https://www.sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply