Forest take Palace’s place in Europe after shock CAS ruling
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An expedited in-person hearing took place in Lausanne on August 8, with Palace chairman Steve Parish in attendance. Ahead of the verdict, Parish had hinted that the
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld UEFA’s decision to exclude Crystal Palace from the 2025/26 Europa League, demoting the club to the UEFA Conference League over a breach of multi-club ownership regulations.
In a statement published on its official website on Monday, CAS confirmed that Nottingham Forest will replace Palace in the Europa League after ruling that American investor John Textor’s influence at both Crystal Palace and French club Olympique Lyonnais (OL) violated UEFA’s ownership rules.
Textor, the founder of Eagle Football Holdings, was found to have significant shares and board-level influence in both clubs on UEFA’s official assessment date. Lyon also qualified for the Europa League, triggering UEFA’s enforcement of its multi-club ownership rules.
Crystal Palace earned Europa League qualification by winning the FA Cup in May and recently added the Community Shield to their achievements by defeating Liverpool on Sunday. However, their European hopes were dashed after UEFA’s July 11 ruling, which the club unsuccessfully appealed to CAS.
Palace had argued that Forest or Lyon should be disqualified instead, but CAS ruled:
“The UEFA Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date.”
An expedited in-person hearing took place in Lausanne on August 8, with Palace chairman Steve Parish in attendance. Ahead of the verdict, Parish had hinted that the club would consider further action depending on the outcome.
However, with CAS delivering its final decision just two and a half weeks after the appeal was filed, Palace will now begin their European campaign in the third-tier UEFA Conference League. CAS noted that a full ruling with reasons will be published unless both parties request confidentiality.
The decision hands a significant boost to Nottingham Forest, who now step into the Europa League group stage and are set to face Palace in their Premier League opener on August 24 at Selhurst Park.
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