Crystal Palace face CAS appeal after being kicked out of Europa League
Crystal Palace must take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if they want to play in the Europa League after being kicked out by Uefa over multi-club conflicts.
European football’s governing body decreed on Friday that Palace and Lyon breached rules on multi-club ownership because of their common links to US investor John Textor.
Textor owns 43 per cent of Palace, who earned a place in Europe by winning the FA Cup last season, and majority owns Lyon – both through his vehicle Eagle Football.
Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League, have been allowed to keep their spot on account of being the higher-ranked team but Palace have been demoted to the Conference League, the least prestigious European club competition.
It comes after French football chiefs accepted an appeal from Lyon against their relegation to the second tier for financial mismanagement. Had they been relegated, the club would also have lost their European place.
Palace chiefs hoped to fend off multi-club charges by arguing that Textor had no decisive influence despite being the largest shareholder.
Textor made his own attempts to placate Uefa by agreeing to sell his stake to Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets and the former US ambassador to the UK.
Uefa’s statement on Crystal Palace and Europa League
“The First Chamber of the Uefa Club Financial Control Body has concluded the proceedings on the multi-club ownership case involving Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais,” Uefa said.
“The CFCB First Chamber had opened proceedings against Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais due to a potential conflict with the multi-club ownership rule provided for in Article 5 of the Uefa Club Competitions Regulations.
“On 9 July 2025, the appeal instance of the French financial control authority (DNCG) decided not to relegate Olympique Lyonnais to Ligue 2. Consequently, and following an assessment by the CFCB of all the other relevant conditions included in the settlement agreement, Olympique Lyonnais will not be excluded from the 2025/26 Uefa club competitions.
“Consequently, the CFCB First Chamber pursued the assessment of the documentation submitted by Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace and concluded that the clubs breached, as at 1 March 2025, the multi-club ownership criteria foreseen in Art 5.01 of the Uefa Club Competition Regulations.
“For this reason, and in accordance with the provisions set in Art. 5.02, 5.03 and 5.04 of the Uefa Club Competitions Regulations, the CFCB First Chamber decided:
“To accept Olympique Lyonnais’ admission to the 2025/26 Uefa Europa League; and
“To reject Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 Uefa Europa League and to accept Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 Uefa Conference League.
“The present decision may be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of the Uefa Statutes.”