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Crystal Palace fans at a protest march last night. Alamy Stock Photo

Chairman Steve Parish says Crystal Palace will appeal Europa League exclusion

The club were demoted last week to the Conference League after a ruling on multi-club ownership issues.

LAST UPDATE | 16 Jul

CRYSTAL PALACE WILL mount a legal challenge to Uefaโ€™s decision to exclude them from next seasonโ€™s 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 Europeโ€™s 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.

co-owner-of-crystal-palace-steve-parish-celebrates-with-the-fa-cup-crystal-palace-v-manchester-city-the-emirates-fa-cup-final-wembley-stadium-london-uk-17th-may-2025 Steve Parish celebrates with the FA Cup last May. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

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.

Uefaโ€™s ruling would mean Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League, taking Palaceโ€™s place in the Europa League.

โ€œWe are still fighting,โ€ Parish told the The Rest is Football podcast. โ€œThereโ€™s an appeal process, so we go to CAS which is the court for arbitration and, you know, weโ€™re very hopeful. We think weโ€™ve got great legal arguments.

โ€œWe donโ€™t think this is the right decision by any means. We know unequivocally that John didnโ€™t have decisive influence over the club.

โ€œWe know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because itโ€™s 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.

Palaceโ€™s 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.

โ€œWe 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.

โ€œIt 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.

โ€œThese things can be defining moments for a club and completely change the course of history forever.

โ€œHopefully when we go to CAS we get the right answer.

โ€œWe get the written version of (the ruling) with the detail then apparently the appeal is 10 daysโ€

crystal-palace-fans-during-a-protest-march-from-norwood-clocktower-to-selhurst-park-crystal-palace-have-confirmed-they-are-considering-an-appeal-to-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport-cas-after-bein Crystal Palace fans during a protest march against UEFAโ€™s decision to demote them to the Conference League. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Last night, Palace fans staged a protest outside Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening following Uefaโ€™s ruling to demote the club to the Conference League.

Hundreds of supporters marched from Norwood Clocktower to Palaceโ€™s stadium carrying banners, with one at the front declaring โ€œUEFA: 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.

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    Mute Adrian Fullam
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    Jul 16th 2025, 10:53 AM

    Multiclub ownership is just wrong. Pick a horse.

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    Mute Stephen McGovern
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    Jul 16th 2025, 11:41 AM

    @Adrian Fullam: I agree, but itโ€™s crazy to allow the Red Bull and City Football Groups to play in the same comps while demoting Palace when theyโ€™re not even in a MCO group.

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    Mute Richard Ford
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    Jul 16th 2025, 12:11 PM

    @Stephen McGovern: At least Palace get to play in Europe. Drogheda have been removed from the Conference League and wonโ€™t be playing any European football at all this season because they too have fallen foul of the same multi club ownership rules.

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    Mute John Doyle
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    Jul 16th 2025, 3:10 PM

    @Richard Ford: should have bumped Drogheda up to and palace down.
    Problem sorted.

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    Mute Fagin Strauss
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    Jul 16th 2025, 10:03 AM

    UEFA are morally bankrupt to be fair.

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    Mute John Buckley
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    Jul 16th 2025, 11:43 AM

    @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.

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    Mute Sullmeister
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    Jul 16th 2025, 6:12 PM

    Check your emails next time Steveโ€ฆโ€ฆ

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    Mute Mandog68 Mandog68
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    Jul 16th 2025, 12:57 PM

    Absolutely bullst1t rule

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