Crystal Palace’s appeal against their demotion to the Conference League has been denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
This means that Nottingham Forest will take their position in the Europa League, a competition that Palace qualified for with their historic FA Cup victory at the end of the previous season.
After both teams qualified for the Europa League, it was determined that Palace had violated UEFA’s multi-club ownership regulations since John Textor’s Eagle Football owned a 43% part in Palace, which was in contradiction with Eagle Football’s majority stake in French team Lyon.
In July, Textor sold Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets NFL team, Eagle Football’s stake in the Palace.
The FA Cup and Community Shield winners will surely still be upset about their Europa League relegation, even though CAS has clarified the situation by rejecting Palace’s appeal. They will go into additional detail about their rationale unless any of the parties seek secrecy.
The Athletic has analyzed CAS’s remarks and their implications.
How did we get to this point?
After both teams qualified for the Europa League, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) decided in July that John Textor’s 43% ownership of Crystal Palace through Eagle Football was in conflict with Eagle Football’s controlling shareholding in French club Lyon.
Instead of Crystal Palace, Lyon was allowed to enter UEFA’s competition due to their better domestic performance.
The CFCB pointed out that Palace had failed to make plans in time for the March 1 deadline to adhere to UEFA’s multi-club ownership regulations.
Since they had never been a part of Textor’s multi-club consortium, the Premier League team had maintained that Textor lacked a decisive influence at the club and that they had not explored placing his shares in a blind trust.
However, the club’s chairman, Steve Parish, stated in a statement posted on Palace’s official website in August 2021 that Textor had “invested significant sums” that helped to “bolster the balance sheet” and “facilitate the rejuvenation of the squad.”
Regarding Textor, Parish stated in an August 2024 BBC interview that they “do collaborate with his clubs where we can.”
Nottingham Forest’s attorneys would have made sure CAS was aware of both Parish’s interview with BBC Sport and Palace’s statement on their website.
What does CASāsĀ ruling say?
However, the club’s chairman, Steve Parish, stated in a statement posted on Palace’s official website in August 2021 that Textor had “invested significant sums” that helped to “bolster the balance sheet” and “facilitate the rejuvenation of the squad.”
Regarding Textor, Parish stated in an August 2024 BBC interview that they “do collaborate with his clubs where we can.”
Nottingham Forest’s attorneys would have made sure CAS was aware of both Parish’s interview with BBC Sport and Palace’s statement on their website.
Luigi Fumagalli, Manfred Nan, and Olivier Carrard formed the three-person panel that heard the CAS case on August 8 at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
What does this mean for Crystal Palace?
In other words, this season they will compete in UEFA’s third-tier club tournament.
Palace was hoping to compete in the Europa League after winning the FA Cup, but they now have to play in the Conference League instead. Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League last season, guaranteeing them a spot in this year’s Champions League.
Parish, who was present at the August 8 hearing, called their first demotion to the Conference League “a terrible injustice” prior to the CAS verdict.
This season will be the club’s first time participating in a European club competition, even though playing in the Europa League was the ultimate goal.
Will Nottingham Forest benefit from this ruling?
Of course. They will now compete in the more lucrative and prestigious Europa League rather than the Conference League.
Palace’s argument that they had been treated unfairly in contrast to Nottingham Forest and Lyon was dismissed by CAS.
By putting his shares in a blind trust and reducing his control over Nottingham Forest, Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of both the Greek team Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest, was able to avoid breaking the laws governing multi-club ownership.
He took this action when Forest was in a strong position to earn a spot in the Champions League, a league Olympiakos has frequently participated in.
How much do teams earn in the Europa and Conference Leagues?
The total prize fund for teams participating in the Europa League is just under twice as much as that of the Conference League, at ā¬565 million (Ā£487 million; $660 million), even though this is all insignificant in contrast to the far more lucrative Champions League. Forest will receive ā¬4.31 million for qualifying for the league phase, while clubs will receive ā¬150,000 for a draw and ā¬450,000 for winning a league phase match.
Up to 40% of the competition’s ā¬285 million prize fund and an equivalent portion of the ā¬114 million given to the qualifiers were promptly banked by each of the 36 clubs participating in the Conference League’s first league phase. Clubs receive ā¬400,000 for each of their six league phase victories.
When do Palace and Forestās respective European campaigns begin?
In the Conference League play-off round, Palace will take on the losers of the Europa League qualifying match between Denmark’s Midtjylland and Norway’s Fredrikstad.
Palace will probably play the Norwegian team after Midtjylland won the first leg (3-1) in Fredrikstad with ease. The return leg of the two-leg playoff round is scheduled for the week after August 21. Palace will host Forest in the Premier League in between the matches.
The league phase starts on September 24 or 25, which is when Forest’s Europa League campaign will start.
August 29 is the date of the Conference League and Europa League group stage draw.
Will there be knock-on effects for UEFA now?
In a romantic sense, the entire incident is hurting UEFA, but it was a nice tale when Palace won their first big championship and went on to qualify to play in Europe for the first time ever.
But in the end, the regulations were in place, and Palace has been found to have violated them.
It would make sense for UEFA to move the mid-season deadline back to the end of the season. Last season, it was set for March 1, but clubs were allowed extensions to comply that lasted until the end of April.
In the unlikely event that clubs qualify for a UEFA competition, this would eliminate the need for them to jump through several hoops and place shares in a blind trust in the middle of the season.
However, the CFCB would have the last say over any rule revisions.
Can Crystal Palace challenge CASās ruling?
Yes, technically, but it’s unclear if they will want to pursue that path.
Although the Swiss Federal Tribunal would merely take into account the procedural and policy concerns rather than rendering a new decision on the merits of Palace’s case, they might still take their appeal to that level.
Palace’s return to the Europa League appears improbable based only on that.
In fact, following Sunday’s Community Shield triumph over Liverpool, Palace chairman Steve Parish hinted that the team might play in the Conference League in the event that the CAS ruling was in their favor.
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