Palace relegated from Europa League with Forest to take their place
Crystal Palace’s relegation from the Europa League to the Europa Conference League has been decided after the Eagles lost their appeal at CAS.
A club delegation, headed up by club co-owner and chairman Steve Parish, argued their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne last week but the judgment set to be handed down on Monday offered only disappointment.
Fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest are set to replace the London club in the second tier of European football, alongside Aston Villa.
Palace qualified for the Europa League with their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City last season but were denied a place in the competition due to Lyon also qualifying for the competition.
Both clubs had a common shareholder, John Textor, though Palace denied the American had any involvement in the running of the Selhurst Park club.
Palace out of Europa
Textor’s 43 per cent stake in the Eagles was later sold to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, but Lyon won the Europa League spot out of the two sides due to their higher-placed finish in their domestic league.
It, at one point, looked as though Palace wouldn’t need to battle at CAS when Lyon were relegated to the second tier of French football over their finances but a successful appeal overturned this call.
It means Palace will now play in the Europa Conference League, which Chelsea won last season.
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.
Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle will join Europa League and Europa Conference League champions Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the Champions League.
Forest are set to join Villa in the Europa League and Palace will be the English representative in the Conference League.
Palace will now consider their legal options.