Police on high alert ahead of Crystal Palace-Nottingham Forest game

The Metropolitan Police are monitoring developments ahead of the weekend meeting between Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park amid fears that tension between the clubs could boil over in the aftermath of Palace’s Europa League ban.

Talks are ongoing between the clubs and police over enhanced security measures, with home supporters planning a protest over Forest’s perceived role in the club’s demotion to the Conference League, the third tier of European competition.

Palace were denied the Europa League place they earned by dint of their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City after UEFA ruled that former Palace co-owner John Textor’s majority ownership of Ligue 1 side Lyon, who also qualified for the competition, constituted a breach of multi-club ownership rules.

Textor subsequently sold his 43% stake in Palace and the club went on to mount an unsuccessful appeal against their demotion at the court of arbitration for sport in a hearing also attended by Forest’s legal team.

‘People have got to look at themselves’

Forest had previously written to UEFA to articulate their thoughts about Palace’s alleged breach of the rules, and the Palace chairman Steve Parish has suggested that their rivals’ objections played a significant role in Cas’s decision to uphold UEFA’s initial ruling.

“We’re led to believe that’s the issue,” Parish told the Rest is Football podcast. “If there wasn’t somebody that wanted to get in as a consequence, then there wouldn’t be a problem. People have got to look at themselves. 

“Some people will say it’s fine, some people will say it’s not. I don’t really have control of that. I only have control of the arguments that we put forward to Uefa.”

The outcome of the case, which was condemned by Palace, meant that Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last term, replaced the club in the Europa League.

‘We will continue to monitor the situation for developments’

The affair has left a bitter taste at Selhurst Park. Parish has described Parish it as “probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football”, a view echoed by the Holmesdale Fanatics supporters group. 

Fans staged a protest outside Selhurst Park last month, and there are now fears that both the Forest team coach and the club’s chairman, Evangelos Marinakis, could be targeted for derision at the weekend.

“Officers will be in attendance at the upcoming Crystal Palace-Nottingham Forest game,” a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the Guardian. “Our priority is keeping fans and the wider public safe, and we will continue to monitor the situation for developments.”