Crystal Palace Lose Europa League Appeal as UEFA Enforces Multi-Club Ownership Rules

Crystal Palace will play Conference League football this season after officially losing their appeal against demotion from the Europa League.

Rules regarding multi-club ownership had seen the Eagles hammered by UEFA and dropped into the third tier of European football despite lifting the FA Cup last term, which should come with the Europa spot.

And despite their attempts to appeal the decision, confirmation was made by the court of arbitration for sport on Monday morning that the club had been unsuccessful.

Why Crystal Palace Lost Their Europa League Appeal

Palace argued that former shareholder James Textor had never had a decisive influence in the boardroom.

However – despite selling his 43 percent stake recently to US businessman Woody Johnson – the fact that Mr Textor also owns shares in Lyon worked against the Premier League outfit.

The Ligue 1 giants also qualified for the Europa League. Palace, according to the Guardian, argued that they felt singled out by UEFA.

Cas, confirming their decision, said: “After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date.

“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL. The panel considered that the Uefa regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed.”

Manager Oliver Glasner had been hopeful that Crystal Palace would win their appeal before his side won the Community Shield last weekend with a penalty shootout victory over Liverpool.

What Oliver Glasner said on Crystal Palace’s Europa League Chances

The Palace boss said: “We are waiting for the final decision, but we still are confident that we will be successful and that we will play Europa League.

“August 11, we will know the decision and then we will start to prepare for Europe.”

The Austrian – who has won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, beating Rangers in 2022 – added that his squad had not been distracted by the off-field issues.

“We didn’t really talk about it. We were focusing on the things we could influence, and we have no influence over the decision from UEFA, we don’t have influence on the decision from CAS now, so it makes no sense to be thinking about it,” the 50-year-old added.

“We are focused on what we have to do on the pitch, how to create this spirit again in the group, this togetherness, this commitment, and this is what we are doing day by day.”