Crystal Palace chance of appealing CAS decision possible but slim
Crystal Palace’s legal options are limited after their loss at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but they exist, insist top lawyers after the Eagles were relegated to the Europa Conference League on Monday.
Despite sending a top team, headed up by co-owner and chairman Steve Parish, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland last week, Palace were unable to convince the court that Uefa’s decision to demote them from the Europa League – due to shareholdings in the London club and Lyon by John Textor – was wrong.
Textor sold his 43 per cent stake in the Selhurst Park club to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson after the multi-club ownership issues were raised but CAS said they found that Textor “had shares” in both clubs and “was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of Uefa’s assessment date”.
The panel also dismissed claims by the Premier League club that they were treated differently to Lyon and Nottingham Forest, the latter of whom they’ll face between two legs of their Conference League qualification tie this month.
Crystal Palace hope?
Top lawyers have chimed in, too, with Richard Coopey of Grosvenor Law saying that “whilst there is a route of appeal from CAS to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, these appeals are very challenging”.
Added Charlie Edwards of Simkins LLP: “Monday’s verdict sends a clear warning to any club operating under multi-club ownership structures.
“Ultimately, as expected, the deciding factor in Palace’s appeal was whether or not it could be determined that John Textor had decisive influence over both Crystal Palace and Lyon at the time of UEFA’s assessment date. The panel’s answer was yes, outlining that the UEFA Regulations are explicit and particularly uncompromising when it comes to assessment dates.
“For Palace, attention now shifts to potentially making the most of their Conference League campaign – but with a possible £20m shortfall in play, further legal avenues against UEFA may yet follow.”
Palace are set to enter into the play-off round phase, with the likes of Fiorentina and Strasbourg and will play their tie over two legs on 21 and 28 August – either side of what is bound to be a tense Premier League match against Nottingham Forest.
It means England will have nine teams in Europe across the coming season with a Palace appeal unlikely to prevail.
Concludes Coopey: “The appeals [at CAS] relate only to procedural and public policy issues, rather than there being a new review of the merits of the case, so Palace’s route back into the Europa League is a difficult one.”