Crystal Palace have been thrown out of the Europa League and can play within the Conference League next season after UEFA ruled that they’re in breach of multi-club ownership rules.
Palace secured their place within the Europa League for the upcoming campaign by beating Manchester City within the FA Cup final in May.
Nevertheless, clubs with the identical owner are prevented from competing in the identical UEFA competition if a person or group is deemed to have a decisive influence over each of those teams.
John Textor is Palace’s largest shareholder but in addition owns Lyon, who qualified for next season’s Europa League after ending sixth in Ligue 1 last season.
Last month, Textor agreed a £190 million deal to sell his 44.9 per cent stake in Palace to US billionaire Woody Johnson, however the sale has not been accomplished.
Lyon, meanwhile, won their appeal against relegation from Ligue 1 last week but in the event that they had dropped out of the French top flight, the club had agreed with UEFA to be excluded from the Europa League, clearing the way in which for Palace to stay within the competition.
UEFA statement on Crystal Palace demotion from 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 (ENG) and Olympique Lyonnais (FRA).
The CFCB First Chamber had opened proceedings against Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais because of a possible 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 to not relegate Olympique Lyonnais to Ligue 2. Consequently, and following an assessment by the CFCB of all the opposite relevant conditions included within the settlement agreement, Olympique Lyonnais is not going to be excluded from the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions (see media release of 30 June 2025).
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.
Because of this, 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 just 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 simply accept Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League.
The current decision could also be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of the UEFA Statutes.
Nevertheless, UEFA announced on Friday that Palace and Lyon have breached multi-club ownership criteria.
Lyon will remain within the Europa League, while Palace will drop into the Conference League, which Chelsea won in May.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh within the Premier League last season, could now replace Palace within the Europa League.
Speaking on Thursday before UEFA’s decision was announced, Textor insisted he didn’t have ‘decisive influence’ at Palace.
‘I’m dumb enough and successful enough to not kind of predict upfront what a governing body goes to say,’ Textor told talkSPORT.
‘At times, I’ve been so confident at how we’d come out of a hearing with the DNCG or with UEFA.
‘So just never, ever, ever try to predict what they’re going to do. I believe it’s insulting to them. I believe they should make a choice, and I don’t wish to prejudge it.
‘I believe this talk of trust is just if you have got decisive influence. Why should I put my interest in trust back before March when the rule says you simply should do it if you have got decisive influence? I don’t.
‘If I had decisive influence, then those Brazilian players that just beat PSG within the Club World Cup, half of them can be coming to Crystal Palace next yr.
‘But you don’t see one single player from our network of clubs that’s made its way onto the Palace roster.
‘Which is the source of my frustration with the shortage of collaboration that we’ve been in a position to have with Crystal Palace.’
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