By: Kwame Bediako
Crystal Palace has announced it will appeal UEFA‘s decision to expel the club from the Europa League and relegate them to the Conference League for the 2025-26 season.
Chairman Steve Parish confirmed the club will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), insisting they have strong legal grounds to overturn what they consider an unfair ruling.
The decision stems from UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, which prohibit a single owner from controlling stakes in two clubs competing in the same European tournament.
The controversy arose because John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings held a 43.9% stake in Crystal Palace while also controlling French club Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League alongside Palace. Although Lyon were initially relegated and excluded from Europe, their successful appeal saw them reinstated, directly resulting in Palace’s demotion.
Textor has since sold his Palace shares to Woody Johnson and resigned from Lyon leadership, but UEFA ruled these changes came too late to prevent the punishment.
Parish vehemently denied that Textor wielded decisive influence at Palace, emphasizing that the club proved this beyond reasonable doubt. He condemned UEFA’s application of the ownership regulations and questioned the timing and method of the decision, arguing it unfairly penalizes medium-sized clubs like Palace that rely on European qualification to change their fortunes.
Parish also suggested Nottingham Forest had an interest in pushing UEFA’s ruling, as their seventh-place finish in the Premier League qualified them for the Europa Conference League, so they stood to gain Palace’s Europa League spot if the decision stood.
The expulsion sparked widespread protests among Palace fans, who marched to Selhurst Park chanting and displaying banners against UEFA’s ruling.
The supporters and several politicians have also rallied to pressure the authorities to reverse the decision, calling for reform of the multi-club ownership rules.
Fans argue the punishment disregards Palace’s historic accomplishment of winning the FA Cup to qualify legitimately for Europe, while pointing to inconsistencies such as Red Bull’s ownership of multiple clubs allowed to compete in UEFA tournaments.
