Crystal Palace to play in Conference League after CAS appeal dismissed
The decision means Palace will play in the Conference League next season while Nottingham Forest will compete in the Europa League.
Palace chairman Steve Parish and the club's lawyers had their appeal heard by a three-person panel at CAS on Friday after the south London side were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching UEFA's multi-club ownership (MCO) rules.
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A CAS statement released on Monday read: '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.'
Palace initially qualified for the Europa League by winning the 2024-25 FA Cup – Eberechi Eze scored the only goal in the Wembley final against Manchester City.
UEFA, however, ruled that Eagle Football's 43 per cent stake in Palace — via its chairman John Textor — was in conflict with its majority stake in French side Lyon after both clubs qualified for the second-tier European competition.
Lyon took precedence over Palace, who finished 12th in the Premier League last term, owing to the higher domestic finish of sixth in Ligue 1.
Forest, meanwhile, finished seventh in the Premier League last season, with UEFA's rules stating the next-best-placed club in the top domestic league of the same association will replace any team who drop out of its continental competitions.
The hearing took place over the course of a single day, and among Palace's arguments put to the Lausanne court was that they had been treated unfairly, which is anti-competitive given that UEFA regulations state that all clubs should be treated fairly.
Palace also believed MCO rules had been applied inconsistently, claiming the March 1 deadline for ensuring compliance with MCO rules had not been evenly applied.
Palace further challenged what they felt was inconsistencies in the rules, by arguing that Textor, who has since sold his 42.92 per cent stake to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, did not have decisive influence at the club and that putting shares into a blind trust while actively trying to sell them would not have been possible.
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The second strand of the inconsistency argument was Palace's belief that emails show that clubs which belonged to the European Club Association (ECA) were able to be walked through the process of avoiding a breach of MCO rules.
Palace had requested readmission to the Europa League with Forest's admission rejected, and Forest's situation also came into their argument. Palace made the claim that their fellow Premier League side are effectively in an MCO with Eagle Football's clubs, given their transfer dealings this summer in particular.
Lyon's financial difficulties had thrown their European participation into doubt, with the French football authorities relegating them to Ligue 2, which would have seen them surrender their place in the Europa League, at the end of the season, only for the club to successfully appeal that decision.
Last week, Palace were drawn against either Norwegian side Fredrikstad or Danish side Midtjylland in the Conference League play-offs. The first leg is scheduled to take place at Selhurst Park on August 21. The competition's league phase draw is on August 29 before the league phase commences on October 2.
The draw for the league phase of the Europa League, meanwhile, also takes place on August 29 and the league phase begins on September 24.
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