The supporters of Crystal Palace will have to watch their team play in the UEFA Conference League next season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed with UEFA's original decision to demote them from the Europa League.
The Eagles were demoted to the Conference League by European football's governing body UEFA on July 11 after it determined that as of March 1, 2025, American businessman John Textor had control or influence at both Palace and French club Lyon. The decision was taken after a 10-hour hearing, which had the club’s chairman, Steve Parish, in attendance in front of three CAS judges in Lausanne on Friday, August 7, 2025.
However, there are reports that the Premier League club will now consider their legal options, having lost their appeal.
What did CAS say about Crystal Palace's demotion to the Conference League?
The Court of Arbitration for Sport in a statement that John Textor was a majority stakeholder in both Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais at the time of ownership assessment date which was March 1st, 2025.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by Crystal Palace FC (CPFC) against UEFA, Nottingham Forest FC, and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) concerning a decision by UEFA to remove CPFC from the UEFA Europa League 2025/2026 due to a breach of UEFA multi-club ownership regulations. As a result, CPFC will be admitted to compete in the UEFA Conference League 2025/2026. The appeal sought to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body on July 11, 2025, which found CPFC and OL non-compliant with multi-club ownership regulations. Alongside the annulment of the decision, CPFC requested readmission to the UEFA Europa League with Nottingham Forest or OL's admission rejected. After considering the evidence, the Panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a Board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA's assessment date. The Panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL. The Panel considered that the UEFA Regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed. This was an expedited procedure, with an operative decision rendered two and a half weeks after the appeal, filed on July 21 2025. Unless Parties request confidentiality, a full Award (with grounds) will be made available on the CAS website in due course."
Who will replace Crystal Palace in the Europa League?
This decision means that Nottinghamshire Forest which finished in sixth place will take their place in the Europa League.
Crystal Palace chairman and co-owner Steve Parish, speaking after the Eagles beat Liverpool to lift the Community Shield, which was before the verdict of CAS, said his team would look for any alternative solutions should the verdict not go their way.
He said: "If we don't get the right outcome, then we will have to look if there are any steps after that."
Palace now have to play a two-legged play-off to get into the draw for the Conference League against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Fredrikstad and Midtjylland.
The first leg is scheduled to take place at Selhurst Park on August 21 and the away leg on August 28. The league phase draws for the Europa and Conference League draws are in Monaco on August 29, 2025.
Read the Latest Sports News and get fresh updates on X and Facebook
