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India Today
6 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Crystal Palace hit out at Europa League demotion: Merit is rendered meaningless
Premier League side Crystal Palace said on Tuesday that sporting merit had been "rendered meaningless" by UEFA's decision to relegate them from the Europa League. In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, the FA Cup winners said they were seeking legal advice on possible next steps following Monday's ruling, accusing European football's governing body of stripping their qualification of any decision was centered on multi-club ownership rules. At the time of the assessment on 1 March, U.S. businessman John Textor's Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Olympique Lyonnais—who had also qualified for the Europa League—and held shares in Crystal Palace. UEFA ruled that this arrangement breached competition regulations designed to prevent conflicts of Eagle Football sold their stake in Palace last month, CAS upheld the original decision and dismissed Palace's claims of unfair treatment, which had cited the cases of Lyon and Nottingham Forest. Forest, who had finished lower than Palace in domestic competition, have now taken their Europa League place. "The decision by UEFA and followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless," Palace said. "It appears that certain clubs, organisations and individuals have a unique privilege and power while we respect the CAS tribunal members, the process is designed to severely restrict and, in our case, make it almost impossible to receive a fair hearing."UEFA's decision has wider implications for the governance of the sport. A combination of poorly conceived regulations and their unequal application means our brilliant fans will be deprived of the chance to watch this team compete in the Europa League for the first time in our history."Palace also referenced a recent European Court of Justice ruling, which allows national courts to conduct in-depth reviews of CAS awards for compliance with EU law, insisting it could ensure greater scrutiny and fairness in future."Only then will fairness and due process be granted to every team," the club added. "Although we continue to take legal advice on the next steps, we will compete in the Conference League."The Eagles, who lifted the Community Shield on Sunday by beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties, will enter the Conference League qualifying play-off round later this month.- Ends
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hearts aim for Hampden heroics after league pain
Scottish Cup semi-final: Heart of Midlothian v AberdeenWhere: Hampden Park, Glasgow When: Saturday, 19 April Kick-off: 12:30 BSTCoverage: Watch on BBC One Scotland, BBC Sport website & app Heart of Midltohian fans are right to be angry at the failure to secure a top-six place, says Neil Critchley, but the head coach insists progress has been made since he joined the club in Tynecastle side took just four points from five matches before the split, with last weekend's goalless draw in Motherwell consigning them to the bottom half of the Scottish Premiership."It's always a collective," Critchley said. "I'd rather fans point at me than the players. After any game where you don't get the result that you want then there's going to be disappointment, frustration."That's totally understandable. I'd never criticise the supporters for that because we all feel that. Myself, the players are included."But I have to keep a sense of perspective on things. I have to be balanced and rational in my thinking and believe in what we're doing. And I've seen signs of progress."I've seen a team that's honest and hard-working and is willing to fight on the pitch. And sometimes it's just fine margins. That little bit of luck that can change the course of a game or your future."With a Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen to come on Saturday, Critchley is stressing the need to "quickly move on".Hearts are yet to beat the Dons in the league this season, two draws following a 3-2 defeat at Pittodrie in October."You have to overcome disappointment," Critchley said. "We have to keep looking forward."Former Blackpool boss Critchley paid his first visit to Hampden a few weeks ago to familiarise himself with the national stadium, which will house more than 22,000 Hearts fans on Saturday."It was obviously empty on the day, just to get a feel for it," he explained. "It's an iconic stadium."You visualise what it might be like. I know we've got an incredible support going. Hopefully we can do them proud and give them a performance and a win that they deserve." 'Evidence to suggest we've deserved more' Critchley's record since taking over from Steven Naismith is 14 wins, seven draws and 12 he has steered the club away from the foot of the table, there has been criticism of a poor record against teams in the top half, along with the failure to win at home to Petrocub from Moldova, which scuppered progression in the Conference League."I understand some games are bigger than others," he said. "But, when we first came in, I'd say every game was important."We were playing catch-up and we had to win games straight away and we've done that."There's evidence to suggest that we've deserved more. We've missed big chances. That's been a recurring theme. "In lots of those games we've been chasing rather than leading the game. I think that's weighed on us a little bit and that's something for us to work on."Critchley began his coaching career at youth level with Liverpool and says a winning mentality takes years to develop, but he accepts managers are under pressure to make an immediate impact."People see the end product now, [at Liverpool] but that took a while to get to," he added. "Players in and out, then it all comes together. In this industry, you don't get a lot of time."It's a rare commodity and people always want success yesterday. You have to understand the process of what you're going to go through."There might be some dips in different moments on the way. You have to ride that and come through that. You have to show belief in who you are and what you want to be."
