Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish, has announced that the club will appeal its demotion from the UEFA Europa League to the UEFA Conference League, following a ruling by European football’s governing body, UEFA.
Palace secured their spot in the Europa League after a stunning FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May, marking their first major trophy win and a historic maiden entry into European competition.
However, UEFA has since ruled that Palace must be moved to the Conference League due to a conflict of interest involving former director John Textor, who also holds shares in French club Olympique Lyonnais.
Although Textor officially stepped away from Crystal Palace at the beginning of July, UEFA based its decision on the ownership status as of March 1 — the deadline set for restructuring or divestment of ownership to avoid such conflicts. The rules prohibit any individual from holding a controlling interest in two clubs participating in the same UEFA competition during the same season.
Should the ruling stand, Nottingham Forest — who finished seventh in the Premier League — would take Palace’s place in the Europa League. But Parish remains determined to overturn the decision.
“We are still fighting,” Parish said on The Rest is Football podcast. “There’s an appeal process, so we go to CAS, which is the court for arbitration, and, you know, we’re very hopeful. We think we’ve got great legal arguments.”
He added: “We don’t think this is the right decision by any means. We know unequivocally that John didn’t have decisive influence over the club. We know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because it’s a fact.”
Crystal Palace continues to argue that Textor’s involvement did not amount to decisive control, thus not violating UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
