Crystal Palace fans launch fierce protest against UEFA's decision to kick them from the Europa League - as they march with flares and GRAFFITI Selhurst Park

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Crystal Palace fans launched a flare-fuelled rebellion outside Selhurst Park to denounce their exile from the Europa League - and their favourite chant was 'f*** UEFA'.
Hundreds of irate supporters marched through the south London streets on Tuesday waving banners, chanting, and turning the air smoky and red with pyrotechnics.
Palace qualified for the Europa League after winning the FA Cup in May but have been 'demoted' due to UEFA's multi-club ownership rules.
The issue was that John Textor owned stakes in Palace and French club Lyon, who also earned their place in the tournament.
Textor has since sold his 43 per cent stake in Palace in a desperate bid to rectify the issue, but that came months after UEFA's deadline of March 1 to show proof of multi-club ownership restructuring.
Eagles fans held aloft a banner which read 'UEFA. Morally bankrupt. Revoke the ruling now.'
They even graffitied the exterior of the stadium, with a message on one wall reading 'UEFA mafia'.
Palace are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - the highest authority possible - in a bid to overturn the ruling.
Their only ever European venture has been in the 1998 Intertoto Cup, so a Europa Conference League campaign would still be exciting for Palace fans.
But the chance to play in the Europa League - and through that have a decent shot of qualifying for the Champions League - is an opportunity they feel they fully merit.
As things stand, it appears as if Nottingham Forest, who qualified for the Conference League via the Premier League, will take their place in Europe's second-tier competition.
As Mail Sport revealed, Palace officials jetted to UEFA headquarters last month to plead their case.
Competition rules mean that, in instances where one person has control over multiple clubs which qualify for the same European tournament, the one which finished higher in its domestic league takes the slot.
Palace's issue was that Textor, the US businessman whose Eagle Football Holdings has the majority stake in the club, also had the majority share of Lyon. And because Lyon finished sixth compared to Palace's 12th, they took the slot.
Some fans branded UEFA the 'mafia' as they graffitied their own stadium, Selhurst Park
Palace had argued that Textor, who subsequently sold his 43 per cent stake for £190million to Woody Johnson, had no say in the running of the club.
However, the failure to take action to separate Textor from the club before UEFA's March 1 deadline landed them in an administrative nightmare.
A very reasonable argument is that, before that date, Palace would have had little inkling that they would make European competition.
At the end of February, Palace were 12th in the Premier League and were awaiting a last-16 FA Cup clash with Millwall in the FA Cup on March 1.
Oliver Glasner's men had to get through Millwall, Fulham, Aston Villa, and Manchester City to win their first major trophy and qualify for Europe.
Chairman Steve Parish told Sky Sports: 'We're devastated. It's a bad day for football. It's a terrible injustice. I do believe nobody want to see this. I don't think Uefa wants to see this.
'We've been locked out of a European competition on the most ridiculous technicality. Supporters of all clubs should be devastated for us.
'Everyone knows we're not part of a multi-club set-up," added Parish. 'We don't share any staff. We're caught up in a rule that wasn't put there for us. I don't understand why the panel has come to the conclusion they have done. I think we've shown John had no influence over our club.
'This is a ludicrous decision. We will ask the appeal court to listen to our argument.
'In 15 years I've never had an email from UEFA, not one. They sent a notification that this rule change was coming to [e-mail]. Nobody saw it so they kept sending it again and again and again. This was in January.'