Furious Crystal Palace consider next steps after UEFA Europa League ban upheld

Furious Crystal Palace consider next steps after UEFA Europa League ban upheld

Crystal Palace have been demoted to the Conference League after losing their appeal following UEFA's decision to remove the FA Cup winners from the Europa League for a breach of multi-club ownership ruies

Guehi helped Crystal Palace win the FA Cup last season (Image: Getty)

Furious Crystal Palace will seek on-field justice against Nottingham Forest in their first Premier League home game after the South London club lost their appeal against demotion to the Conference League. And Forest, who complained to UEFA about Palace’s ownership, will now take the FA Cup holders’ place in the Europa League this season.

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The Selhurst Park club were last night assessing legal options after the Court of Arbitration for Sport backed UEFA decision to relegate Palace to the third-tier competition. But the August 24 visit of Forest - on the weekend between the two-legged Conference League playoff Palace must now face - promises to be a feisty affair.

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Palace won the first major trophy in their 120-year history on May 17 - and added the Community Shield on Sunday - but have now lost a huge appeal and potentially £20m in revenue.

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FA Cup winning captain Joel Ward said: “It’s sad and disheartening. You want the cherry on top of playing in the Europa League. And when that gets snatched away from you, it is a bitter pill to swallow.”

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UEFA regulations ban clubs under shared ownership or control from playing in the same European competition. And Palace have not been allowed to enter the Europa League because US investor John Textor still owned 43 per cent of Palace by a March 1 deadline and his French club Olympique Lyon also qualified for the second-tier competition. They finished sixth in Ligue 1 and so take priority over 12th-placed Palace.

The Premier League club insisted that Textor had no influence in running Palace - and he has since sold his stake to fellow American Woody Johnson. The Eagles also claimed Reds owner Evangelos Marinakis, who controls Olympiakos, had been given extra time to place his Forest shares in a blind trust to skirt the rules.

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But UEFA - and now CAS - have ruled that Palace had broken the regulations and should pay the price. A CAS statement said: "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.

Steve Parish insists Crystal Palace will continue to fight the decision (Image: PA)

"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."

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The South London club never expected to qualify for Europe and former Palace owner Simon Jordan told talkSPORT: “It is a ridiculous rule but everyone knew the rule and Palace didn’t comply with it.”

Speaking before the ruling, Palace co-owner Steve Parish said: “I am determined to get the right outcome. If we don’t, we will have to look at the steps afterwards.” And England keeper Dean Henderson said at Wembley on Sunday: “For football purposes we deserve to be in the Europa League. I think it would devalue the competition unfortunately if we weren't in the Europa League.”

Forest had been waiting on the CAS verdict before deciding on their transfer policy this season. Last night they made a bid for Monaco midfielder Soungoutou Magassa, 21, who won Olympic silver for France last summer.

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