Crystal Palace demoted by UEFA from Europa League because of co-owner Textor's ties to Lyon
Textor's 43% minority stake in Palace — even though he had limited decision-making influence there — while he owned Lyon outright, conflicted with UEFA rules on multi-club ownership designed to protect the integrity of its competitions.
UEFA said its club finance panel accepted Lyon's entry into the second-tier Europa League instead.
The decision follows the financially troubled French club being reprieved this week from demotion to the French second division.
UEFA's decision came after six weeks of uncertainty for the south London club which has taken the shine off the first qualification for European competitions in its history. Palace beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Palace can challenge the UEFA ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A fast-track case would need to be held within about one month before Conference League qualifying playoffs.
Textor has been an increasingly controversial figure in global soccer, also owning Brazilian club Botafogo and Belgium's Molenbeek while being linked with a failed bid to buy Everton.
Nottingham Forest should now step up into the Europa League from the Conference League, which is potentially worth 20 million euros (dollars) more in UEFA prize money.
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CNN
a few seconds ago
- CNN
Exit bans in China: What are they and why are they causing friction with US?
Asia China JapanFacebookTweetLink Follow China recently banned a foreign Wells Fargo executive and a United States government employee from leaving its territory, spotlighting its opaque judicial and security system and rekindling concerns over the risks facing foreign companies and nationals operating there. Exit bans are a common practice employed by the Chinese authorities to prevent individuals under suspicion from leaving the country – sometimes on legitimate grounds, but other times for political reasons, experts said. The latest bans come as the world's second-largest economy seeks to court foreign investment, and inject fresh uncertainties to ongoing US-China trade talks ahead of an August 12 tariff deadline. Here's what you need to know about the bans and their implications for bilateral relations with the US. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Monday the exit ban imposed on Wells Fargo banker Mao Chenyue, saying she had been 'involved in a criminal case' and is obligated to cooperate with the investigation, without providing further details. Meanwhile, the US State Department said on Monday that China blocked an employee of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, under the Commerce Department, from leaving the country. A State Department spokesperson told CNN that it 'has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens.' 'We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,' the spokesperson said. The New York Times reported, citing a State Department document it obtained, that the Commerce Department employee has been prevented from leaving the country since mid-April, and questioned primarily about his US Army background. The State Department did not disclose to CNN the identity of the US citizen facing an exit ban. Asked about the Wells Fargo banker banned from leaving China, the State Department spokesperson said: 'Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment at this time.' The US Embassy in China said it has raised concerns with Chinese authorities about the 'impact arbitrary exit bans have on our bilateral relations.' 'The Chinese government has, for many years, imposed exit bans on US citizens and other foreign nationals in China, often without a clear and transparent process for resolution,' a spokesperson for the embassy told CNN. James Zimmerman, a lawyer based in Beijing and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the government's use of exit bans is 'nothing new,' and they have often been used in investigations to prevent witnesses or suspects viewed as flight risks from leaving China. 'Most of the time, there is a legitimate legal basis for the exit ban, while there are indeed instances of misuse of the process by the government authorities, including for political reasons,' he said. While there are procedures for having an exit ban lifted, he added, 'the lack of transparency and absence of a workable bail system make lifting an exit ban a time-consuming and challenging process.' China does not provide numbers of people who are subject to exit bans, though the practice has been employed against its citizens much more frequently than against foreigners. Many human rights lawyers, activists and their families have been placed under such restrictions. Last year the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights organization, estimated that more than 30 Americans were under exit bans. Beyond targeting subjects of criminal investigations, Beijing has imposed exit bans on people who are not directly involved in the legal proceedings. As early as 2019, the US issued a travel advisory urging Americans to 'exercise increased caution' when traveling to China because of its use of exit bans 'coercively.' The advisory said the restrictions are used to 'compel US citizens to participate in Chinese government investigations, to lure individuals back to China from abroad, and to aid Chinese authorities in resolving civil disputes in favor of Chinese parties.' In one notable example in 2018, China blocked Victor and Cynthia Liu, two Americans then aged 19 and 27, from leaving the country in order to pressure their father Liu Changming, a high-profile Chinese fugitive, into returning to China, where he was wanted for financial crimes. Only three years later were they allowed to return home. Zimmerman also noted that foreigners working with China's state-owned enterprises (SOE) could also be subject to exit bans. The Central Commission on Discipline Inspection, the ruling Communist Party's top anti-graft agency, has initiated more investigations in recent years, and used exit bans to force foreigners to assist in investigations targeting government officials and SOEs, he said. 'Foreign persons who have had extensive business relationships with SOEs should be cautious, especially if they become aware that the SOEs they had dealings with are a target of investigations,' he said. China has passed or amended a series of laws in recent years to expand the scope for the use of exit bans, especially on national security grounds. In 2023, it amended its already extensive counterespionage law, allowing exit bans on Chinese and foreigners under investigation if they are deemed a potential national security risk after leaving the country. A 2023 report on China's expanding use of exit bans by Safeguard Defenders, a human rights group, estimated at least tens of thousands of people in China are placed under exit bans at any one time. And that does not include millions of Tibetans, or Uyghurs in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, who have long been targeted with ethnicity-based exit bans, mostly through the confiscation and denial of passports, it said. Other than the counterespionage law amendment, Beijing has in recent years expanded the remit of its national security apparatus through sweeping legislation, giving authorities broader powers to scrutinize foreign nationals and organizations. Some of those laws have ensnared members of the business community. Just last week, a Beijing court sentenced a Japanese executive for Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma to more than three years in prison for espionage. The executive has been detained in China since 2023. The Embassy of Japan in Beijing told CNN that the guilty sentence handed down to the Japanese national is 'deeply regrettable,' as the country has urged the Chinese authorities repeatedly to release them, through various channels including at the leader and foreign minister levels. 'The detention of Japanese nationals in China is one of the biggest obstacles to improving people-to-people exchanges and public sentiment between Japan and China,' it said. An American businessman in Beijing told CNN on condition of anonymity that concerns rise among the foreign business community every time an exit ban or detention of a foreign national is announced, and there are greater concerns for those who travel to China for short-term business trips. 'Denials by the Foreign Ministry of the detentions or lack of clarity as to why the people are detained only makes matters worse. And more importantly, if people are afraid to visit China, investment will fall,' the businessman said. William Yang, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank, noted that companies from countries like Japan, several of whose citizens have been arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities on espionage grounds, have already reduced the number of staff based in China. 'At a time when China is trying to boost foreign investors' confidence in the country, these developments would be counterproductive to that goal,' he said. For the first half of 2025, China's Commerce Ministry reported a 15.2% drop in foreign investment in the country, compared with the same period last year, as it continues to grapple with a flurry of economic challenges. Joe Mazur, senior analyst at Trivium China, a research and advisory firm, said the use of exit bans and the lack of clarity around specific cases will make foreign companies extremely nervous about sending staff to China, damaging overall business confidence. 'A lack of faith in the impartiality and due process afforded by China's legal system tends to overshadow any sort of justification the Chinese side is likely to make about the legal basis for exit bans,' he said. But Mazur said the development is unlikely to reverse the positive steps the US and China have taken in recent weeks to dial down their trade war. 'Given what's at stake in the US-China trade relationship, I doubt the US will allow these exit ban cases to derail the slight thaw we've seen in US-China ties in the past few weeks,' he said. Still, Yang believed the bans slapped on the two American citizens cast a shadow over the more positive developments in relations between both countries as they try to arrange a potential leaders' summit and reach a permanent trade deal. 'These cases could make it more complicated for China and the US to negotiate the right terms and conditions for the potential Xi-Trump meeting in China, which the US government seems to be prioritizing,' he said. CNN's Marc Stewart in Beijing and Matt Egan contributed reporting.
CNBC
a minute ago
- CNBC
Europe's most valuable firm SAP flags U.S. trade slowdown but says Japan deal gives 'hope'
German software giant SAP said Wednesday that U.S. tariff tensions were slowing down its customers' decision-making, but that the Japan trade deal announced Tuesday was cause for cautious optimism. "In some sectors which are most affected by these [policy] decisions, like public sector U.S. and also the very big manufacturing industrial companies with complicated global supply chains, there was the one or other large transaction which has slipped over the turn of the last quarter," SAP Chief Financial Officer Dominik Asam told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition." Deals were not disappearing entirely, but approvals were being passed higher up the chain of command and holding up processes due to uncertainty, he noted. "Now we have to see how quickly we can catch up. That is very much a question of how the overall environment will evolve. I mean, obviously the most recent developments in Japan give us some hope, but too early to speculate on that," Asam said. "The faster the uncertainty abates, the more confidence we have in the outcome for the full year," he added. SAP in March became Europe's biggest listed company, overtaking French luxury group LVMH and Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk in market capitalization, after pivoting the business firstly toward cloud computing and then toward opportunities in artificial intelligence. SAP now brings in the majority of its revenue from cloud services, and has focused on how AI can tap into its huge set of finance, sales and supply chain data to make efficiencies for businesses. The U.S. is one of its core markets, and investors have been questioning how SAP would be impacted by a potential pullback in spending as the administration of President Donald Trump engages in tense trade disputes and tariff negotiations with much of the world. The status of any framework deal with the European Union remained mired in uncertainty as of Wednesday, but global stock markets were buoyed by the announcement Tuesday of an agreement with Japan setting tariffs on its exports to the U.S. at 15%. SAP reported late on Tuesday a 9% year-on-year revenue rise to 9.03 billion euros ($10.6 billion) in the second quarter, just shy of an LSEG-compiled consensus forecast of 9.08 billion euros. Operating profit was just ahead of estimates at 2.57 billion euros. The company reiterated its full-year 2025 outlook, despite noting that the "prevailing dynamic environment implies elevated levels of uncertainty and reduced visibility." On an analyst call Tuesday, CEO Christian Klein said SAP was seeing "strong momentum" from the recent national security spending push in Europe, which has driven massive gains in defense stocks this year, some of which are SAP customers. Its current cloud backlog, a key metric for the firm, was up 28% on a constant currency basis to 18.05 billion, which analysts at Deutsche Bank said were "strong" in a Wednesday note. "Overall, we see SAP continuing to execute very well in a challenging environment, helped by its strong product offerings, AI roadmap and structural long-term Cloud migration projects. New wins included landmark customers such as Alibaba in Q2," the Deutsche Bank analysts said. However, other reactions were less positive, with analysts at TD Cowen and Piper Sandler trimming their target prices on the stock. One drag on the results came from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, particularly weakness in the U.S. dollar against the euro, in which SAP reports. The firm forecast a 5 percentage-point drag on cloud revenue growth figures in the third quarter, assuming exchange rates as of June 30. SAP's Frankfurt-listed shares were 3.5% lower in early deals on Wednesday.
22 minutes ago
Flurry of trade deals offers relief for some Asian countries, while others wait
BANGKOK -- U.S. President Donald Trump has announced trade deals with Japan and a handful of other Asian countries that will relieve some pressure on companies and consumers from sharply higher tariffs on their exports to the United States. A deal with China is under negotiation, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying an Aug. 12 deadline might be postponed again to allow more time for talks. Steep tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum remain, however, and many other countries, including South Korea and Thailand, have yet to clinch agreements. Overall, economists say the tariffs inevitably will dent growth in Asia and the world. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced a deal Wednesday that will impose 15% tariffs on U.S. imports from Japan, down from Trump's proposed 25% 'reciprocal' tariffs. It was a huge relief for automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda, whose shares jumped by double digits in Tokyo. Trump also announced trade deals with the Philippines and Indonesia. After meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Trump said the import tax on products from his country would be subject to a 19% tariff, down just 1% from the earlier threat of a 20% tariff. Indonesia also will face a 19% tariff, down from the 32% rate Trump had recently said would apply, and it committed to eliminating nearly all of its trade barriers for imports of American goods. Earlier, Trump announced that Vietnam's exports would face a 20% tariff, with double that rate for goods transshipped from China, though there has been no formal announcement. Negotiations with China are subject to an Aug. 12 deadline, but it's likely to be extended, Bessent told Fox Business on Tuesday. He said the two sides were due to hold another round of talks, this time in Sweden, early next week. Meanwhile, Trump said a trip to China may happen soon, hinting at efforts to stabilize U.S.-China trade relations. A preliminary agreement announced in June paved the way for China to lift some restrictions on its exports of rare earths, minerals critical for high technology and other manufacturing. In May, the U.S. agreed to drop Trump's 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods to 30% for 90 days, while China agreed to lower its 125% rate on U.S. goods to 10%. The reprieve allowed companies more time to rush to try to beat the potentially higher tariffs, giving a boost to Chinese exports and alleviating some of the pressure on its manufacturing sector. But prolonged uncertainty over what Trump might do has left companies wary about committing to further investment in China. Pressure is mounting on some countries in Asia and elsewhere as the Aug. 1 deadline for striking deals approaches. Trump sent letters, posted on Truth Social, outlining higher tariffs some countries will face if they fail to reach agreements. He said they'd face even higher tariffs if they retaliate by raising their own import duties. South Korea's is set at 25%. Imports from Myanmar and Laos would be taxed at 40%, Cambodia and Thailand at 36%, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35%, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%. Nearly every country has faced a minimum 10% levy on goods entering the U.S. since April, on top of other sectoral levies. Even after Trump has pulled back from the harshest of his threatened tariffs, the onslaught of uncertainty and higher costs for both manufacturers and consumers has raised risks for the regional and global economy. Economists have been downgrading their estimates for growth in 2025 and beyond. The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it had cut its growth estimate for economies in developing Asia and the Pacific to 4.7% in 2025 and 4.6% in 2026, down 0.2 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points. The outlook for the region could be further dimmed by an escalation of tariffs and trade friction, it said. 'Other risks include conflicts and geopolitical tensions that could disrupt global supply chains and raise energy prices,' as well as a deterioration in China's ailing property market. Economists at AMRO were less optimistic, expecting growth for Southeast Asia and other major economies in Asia at 3.8% in 2025 and 3.6% next year. While countries in the region have moved to protect their economies from Trump's trade shock, they face significant uncertainties, said AMRO's chief economist, Dong He. 'Uneven progress in tariff negotiations and the potential expansion of tariffs to additional products could further disrupt trade activities and weigh on growth for the region,' he said.
