Crystal Palace’s appeal against their demotion to the Conference League has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The decision means Palace will play in the Conference League next season, while Nottingham Forest will compete in the Europa League.
Palace chairman Steve Parish and the club’s lawyers had their appeal heard by a three-person panel at CAS on Friday after the south London side were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching UEFA’s multi-club ownership (MCO) rules.
A CAS statement released on Monday read: “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.”
Palace initially qualified for the Europa League by winning the 2024-25 FA Cup, Eberechi Eze scoring the only goal in the Wembley final against Manchester City.
UEFA, however, ruled that Eagle Football’s 43 per cent stake in Palace — via its chairman John Textor — was in conflict with its majority stake in French side Lyon after both clubs qualified for the second-tier European competition.
Fans of Crystal Palace protest against the UEFA decision to demote the club to the Conference League outside Selhurst Park stadium on July 15, 2025 in London, England. (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
Lyon took precedence over Palace, who finished 12th in the Premier League last term, owing to the higher domestic finish of sixth in Ligue 1.
Forest, meanwhile, finished seventh in the Premier League last season, with UEFA’s rules stating the next-best-placed club in the top domestic league of the same association will replace any team who drop out of its continental competitions.
The hearing took place over the course of a single day, and among Palace’s arguments put to the Lausanne court was that they had been treated unfairly, which is anti-competitive given that UEFA regulations state that all clubs should be treated fairly.
Palace also believed MCO rules had been applied inconsistently, claiming the March 1 deadline for ensuring compliance with MCO rules had not been evenly applied.
Palace further challenged what they felt was inconsistencies in the rules, by arguing that Textor, who has since sold his 42.92 per cent stake to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, did not have decisive influence at the club and that putting shares into a blind trust while actively trying to sell them would not have been possible.
The second strand of the inconsistency argument was Palace’s belief that emails show that clubs which belonged to the European Club Association (ECA) were able to be walked through the process of avoiding a breach of MCO rules.
Palace had requested readmission to the Europa League with Forest’s admission rejected, and Forest’s situation also came into their case. Palace made the claim that their fellow Premier League side are effectively in an MCO with Eagle Football’s clubs, given their transfer dealings this summer in particular.
Lyon’s financial difficulties had thrown their European participation into doubt, with the French football authorities relegating them to Ligue 2, which would have seen them surrender their place in the Europa League, at the end of the season, only for the club to successfully appeal that decision.
Last week, Palace were drawn against either Norwegian side Fredrikstad or Danish side Midtjylland in the Conference League play-offs. The first leg is scheduled to take place at Selhurst Park on August 21. The competition’s league phase draw is on August 29 before the league phase commences on October 2.
The draw for the league phase of the Europa League, meanwhile, also takes place on August 29 and the league phase begins on September 24.
‘Anger and regret’ for Palace and their supporters
Analysis by Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam
This decision will infuriate Palace fans all over again.
They will feel a strong sense of injustice, particularly given that John Textor and Eagle Football now have nothing to do with Palace and therefore there is no conflict. Whatever the technicalities of the situation, Palace understandably feel aggrieved.
“If you get punished when you feel innocent, it’s tough,” manager Oliver Glasner said in his pre-match press conference.
When the dust settles Palace fans will look forward to playing in Europe for the first time in their history but there will be anger and regret that they were denied what they believe was their rightful place in the Europa League.
Forest can finally prepare for Europa League
Analysis by Nottingham Forest correspondent Paul Taylor
Behind the scenes at Forest, there has always been a degree of sympathy for Crystal Palace.
But there has also been frustration that Forest have been framed as the bad guys.
Forest earned their place in Europe and they had prepared for the possibility of being in the same European competition as their own sister club, Olympiacos, with owner Evangelos Marinakis having made the arrangements to place his shares into a blind trust.
The coaching staff and players have been relaxed about the prospect of playing in either competition. Murillo, the Brazilian defender, underlined this point in an interview in The Athletic today, saying that they would be setting their sights on winning whichever competition they ended up playing in.
But now they know for certain that they will be playing in the Europa League, they can continue their preparations – including building a squad to cope with the extra demands that European football brings.
They will know that, on either September 24 or 25, they will play European football for the first time in three decades, when the league stage of the Europa League kicks-off.
(Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images))
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