US-owned Irish soccer club Drogheda barred from Conference League by UEFA ownership rules
FILE - The trophy of Conference league is pictured during the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, Feb. 21, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, File)
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Irish Cup winner Drogheda lost its appeal on Monday against being removed from the Conference League next season for breaking UEFA rules on club ownership.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges gave an urgent decision dismissing Drogheda's appeal that was heard on Monday. On Tuesday, UEFA will start making the draws for qualifying rounds in the third-tier European competition.
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Drogheda and Silkeborg of Denmark qualified for the Conference League second preliminary round but are owned by the Trivela Group from the United States.
UEFA rules to protect sporting integrity do not allow teams from a multi-club network to enter the same competition if one owner has 'decisive influence' over management of both.
CAS said the three judges agreed UEFA committed key information to Drogheda and that by a 2-1 majority 'rejected (the club's) submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA.'
Other cases involving Manchester City, Manchester United, AC Milan, Brighton and Aston Villa in the past two years were resolved by one of the ownership stakes being placed into a blind trust for the season. A UEFA expert panel also imposed transfer bans and limited cooperation between clubs in question.
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The UEFA panel is also assessing if Crystal Palace and Lyon can both enter the next Europa League. Lyon's American owner John Textor has a 43% stake in Palace though with limited decision-making power.
In the latest case, Silkeborg took priority with UEFA to get the Conference League place because it finished higher in the Danish league this season than Drogheda did in the Irish league last year.
Drogheda loses prize money of 350,000 euros ($406,000) that UEFA pays for playing in the Conference League second qualifying round.
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