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On Monday, August 11, it was confirmed that Crystal Palace have lost their appeal against UEFA for demoting them from Europa League, which means that they will be playing the Conference League this season. After the initial decision from UEFA, who punished Crystal Palace for mutli-club ownership, the London-based club appealed against it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the latter didn’t rule it in favour of them.
Notably, the CAS ruling came just a day after Crystal Palace defeated Liverpool in the FA Community Shield final at the Wembley Stadium in London on penalties 3-2 after the full-time scoreline read 2-2. The ruling from CAS also means that Nottingham Forest will now be playing in the UEFA Europa League, getting promoted in place of Crystal Palace in the competition this season.
Crystal Palace secured UEFA Europa League spot after winning the FA Cup last season
Crystal Palace had earlier secured UEFA Europa League spot after winning the FA Cup, defeating Manchester City in the final 1-0 this past May at the Wembley Stadium in London. But, since they didn’t show UEFA proof of multi-club ownership restructuring, missing the March 1, 2025, deadline under American businessman John Textor, who was not only their majority owner but also of Lyon at the time, they were demoted from the Europa League by UEFA.
John Textor did sell his 43% stake in Crystal Palace in June, but it was too late to have UEFA change their decision. The subsequent appeal from the club to the CAS led to the ruling, wherein they said, as per BBC Sport, “Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as Palace claimed. Textor still had decisive influence over both clubs at the time of Uefa's assessment date.”
Apart from that, the CAS also dismissed Crystal Palace’s argument of receiving unfair treatment in comparison to Lyon and Nottingham Forest.
