Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the UEFA Conference League has been dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the court confirmed on Monday.
The ruling upholds UEFA’s assessment that Palace breached multi-club ownership rules, due to overlapping control with French side Olympique Lyonnais under Eagle Football Holdings. At the time of UEFA’s assessment on March 1, Eagle Football — founded by John Textor — held a majority stake in Lyon, while Textor also had a controlling interest in Palace and sat on both clubs’ boards.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Lyon to remain in the Europa League. As a result, Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will take Palace’s Europa League spot.
“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,” CAS said in a statement.
The court also rejected Palace’s claim that they were unfairly treated compared to Lyon and Forest.
Palace, who had qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, launched the appeal last month. Club chairman Steve Parish had previously suggested the club would consider further legal steps if the appeal failed. The club has not yet commented publicly on the decision.
The appeal came just days before New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football’s stake in Palace. Textor has also stepped down from Lyon’s board, with Michele Kang taking over as chairwoman and president.
Lyon welcomed the ruling in a statement, saying, “Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League.”
With the decision now final, Palace are set to play in the UEFA Conference League qualifying playoff round later this month. They recently lifted the Community Shield, defeating Liverpool in a penalty shootout.