LAST UPDATE | 16 Jul
CRYSTAL PALACE WILL mount a legal challenge to Uefaโs decision to exclude them from next seasonโs Europa League, with chairman Steve Parish announcing the club will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The FA Cup winners have been demoted to the Conference League owing to what Europeโs governing body says is a conflict of interest regarding former director and co-owner John Textor, who also owns part of Ligue 1 side Lyon.
The American stepped away from Palace at the start of July, but the ownership issue relates to the end of last season when the club secured a first European appearance by beating Manchester City at Wembley.
Uefaโs ruling would mean Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League, taking Palaceโs place in the Europa League.
โWe are still fighting,โ Parish told the The Rest is Football podcast. โThereโs an appeal process, so we go to CAS which is the court for arbitration and, you know, weโre very hopeful. We think weโve got great legal arguments.
โWe donโt think this is the right decision by any means. We know unequivocally that John didnโt have decisive influence over the club.
โWe know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because itโs a fact.โ
Uefa rules say that no owner or co-owner can have a controlling interest in more than one club competing in the same European competition during the same season.
Palaceโs position throughout has been that Textor, who had previously spoken publicly about his frustration over the lack of influence he was able to exert at Selhurst Park, did not have a sufficiently controlling role for the club to fall foul of the regulations.
The deadline for shareholders to divest their interest in a club, or in some other way to alter their ownership structure, in order to comply with the regulations was March 1.
Forest, who stand to gain from the ruling, were at risk of being in a similar situation but their owner Evangelos Marinakis โ who also owns Greek side Olympiacos โ placed his shares in a blind trust ahead of the deadline in anticipation of the club qualifying for Europe.
โWe feel that there are a lot of very genuine mitigating circumstances and more than enough wriggle room to put us in the competition,โ said Parish.
โIt does look bad. This is the dream right? This is what keeps football alive. This is why everybody goes, because they think one day they might win a cup and they might qualify for Europe.
โThese things can be defining moments for a club and completely change the course of history forever.
โHopefully when we go to CAS we get the right answer.
โWe get the written version of (the ruling) with the detail then apparently the appeal is 10 daysโ
Last night, Palace fans staged a protest outside Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening following Uefaโs ruling to demote the club to the Conference League.
Hundreds of supporters marched from Norwood Clocktower to Palaceโs stadium carrying banners, with one at the front declaring โUEFA: MORALLY BANKRUPT. REVOKE THE RULING NOWโ.
A petition urging UEFA to reconsider and reinstate Palace back in the Europa League has been signed by more than 3,000 people since being created on Friday.
Multiclub ownership is just wrong. Pick a horse.
@Adrian Fullam: I agree, but itโs crazy to allow the Red Bull and City Football Groups to play in the same comps while demoting Palace when theyโre not even in a MCO group.
@Stephen McGovern: At least Palace get to play in Europe. Drogheda have been removed from the Conference League and wonโt be playing any European football at all this season because they too have fallen foul of the same multi club ownership rules.
@Richard Ford: should have bumped Drogheda up to and palace down.
Problem sorted.
UEFA are morally bankrupt to be fair.
@Fagin Strauss: Yes, but they are not at fault here. Palace missed a deadline, and Textor is a majority owner in the two clubs. These fans blaming UEFA is just stupidity.
Check your emails next time Steveโฆโฆ
Absolutely bullst1t rule