Crystal Palace lose appeal against their demotion from Europa League
Press Association
Crystal Palace have lost their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their demotion from the Europa League and will play in the Conference League this season.
The FA Cup winners were demoted to the Conference League by European football's governing body UEFA on July 11 after it determined that as of March 1, American businessman John Textor had control or influence at both Palace and French club Lyon.
Nottingham Forest – who travel to Selhurst Park for Palace's first home league game on August 24 – are expected to take the Europa League place.
A CAS media release read: '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.
'The appeal sought to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body on 11 July 2025 which found CPFC and OL non-compliant with multi-club ownership regulations.
'Alongside the annulment of the decision, CPFC requested readmission to the UEFA Europa League with Nottingham Forest or OL's admission rejected.
'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.
'This was an expedited procedure, with an operative decision rendered two-and-a-half weeks after the appeal, filed on 21 July 2025. Unless parties request confidentiality, a full award (with grounds) will be made available on the CAS website in due course.'
Palace would have been granted direct entry to the Europa League league phase as FA Cup winners but now have to contend with a two-legged play-off against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Fredrikstad and Midtjylland.
The first leg is scheduled to take place at Selhurst Park on August 21 and the away leg on August 28.
UEFA declined to comment on the CAS panel's decision, while Palace did not make any immediate comment.
Textor has now sold his stake in Palace, with the purchase of his shares by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson completed in late July.
Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish, speaking after the Eagles beat Liverpool to lift the Community Shield, said his team would look for any alternative solutions should the verdict not go their way.
He said: 'If we don't get the right outcome, then we will have to look if there's any steps after that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
9 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Irish sailing trio make good starts at Europeans
Updated / Monday, 11 Aug 2025 19:06 The McMahon siblings, Eve and Ewan, both made strong starts to their ILCA European Championships prospects in Sweden on Monday, though it wasn't plain sailing for either at the start of the six-day regatta. Eve was one of nine boats penalised for early starting in the tricky current and strong winds and received maximum points for the disqualification. However, the Howth sailor bounced back in race two by leading her division most of the way before the wind died and she took second place for that race. Older brother Ewan had a better day and is third European out of 153 boats thanks to a second and a sixth. Carlow's Finn Lynch also opened well with a third and an 11th and needs to maintain this form to secure a strong overall Gold fleet place ahead of the final series that starts on Thursday. All three Irish sailors are now counted in the top 10 in the world as they begin to focus on the 2028 LA Games. The Irish sailing squad has just returned from a three-week training camp at the Los Angeles Olympic venue.
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Jack Grealish on verge of Everton loan move from Manchester City
MANCHESTER CITY HAVE agreed a season-long loan deal with Everton for winger Jack Grealish, the PA news agency understands. Grealish, not included in City's 27-man squad for this summer's Club World Cup in the United States, is expected to undergo a medical with the Merseysiders on Monday. Advertisement The 29-year-old reportedly earns £300,000-per-week (€347,000) having joined City from Aston Villa for a then-record British transfer fee of £100 million €116m in August 2021. Grealish made his last appearance for Pep Guardiola's side as a late substitute in the 3-1 home win against Bournemouth in their penultimate league game last season. He had dropped down the pecking order under Guardiola, making just seven league starts in total last season, and was an unused substitute in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace. Everton launch the new campaign at newly-promoted Leeds next Monday before playing their first Premier League game at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium against Brighton on 24 August. The Toffees signed midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea for a fee of around £28m (€32m) last week and Grealish would be the Merseysiders' sixth summer signing following the previous arrivals of Charly Alcaraz, Thierno Barry, Mark Travers and Adam Aznou.
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Evan Ferguson could link up with Manchester United man at Roma
Evan Ferguson could find himself in the same team as Manchester United reject Jadon Sancho at Roma this season. The Serie A giants have been linked with a swoop for the England star, whose time at Old Trafford appears to be at an end. Sancho spent last season on-loan at Chelsea and he spent the second half of the previous campaign loaned back to his former club Borussia Dortmund. READ MORE: This is the Gavin Bazunu save that even had Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson gushing with praise READ MORE: Shels boss Joey O'Brien tells RTE 'doesn't bother me' as national broadcaster snubs big Uefa night United are eager to get the 25-year-old off their books - and Roma are willing to hand him a lifeline, according to reports in Italy. They have approached the Premier League side to make initial enquiries about a potential transfer, with new boss Gian Piero Gasperini a fan of the winger. Sancho moved to United from Dortmund in 2021, and played 79 games in his first two seasons, scoring 12 goals. However, he played just three times during the first half of the 2023/24 campaign and was loaned out that January to Dortmund. While he featured regularly for Chelsea last season, scoring five goals and contributing 10 assists, the Old Trafford hierarchy appear to be unmoved. And that could spell good news for Gasperini, who is believed to view Sancho as someone who can deliver quality service to Ferguson and the rest of his attackers. One of Roma's current wingers, Argentinean star Matías Soulé, meanwhile, has spoken about the ongoing development of his on-field rapport with the Ireland international. Soulé has so far played in pre-season with Ferguson and Artem Dovbyk - and he has enjoyed playing with the striking par so far. He said: 'I'm getting along really well with them. Ferguson has just arrived and we're still getting to know each other. 'We have slightly different playing styles, but we are all adapting to the new manager's approach, which is a far cry from last season's tactics. 'We're putting in the hard yards, and I truly believe we're set for a stellar campaign – here's hoping.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
