Crystal Palace demoted to Conference League

Crystal Palace have been demoted from the Europa League and will now play in the Conference League next season after a UEFA ruling.

Palace are expected to appeal the decision via the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

As FA Cup winners, Palace won a spot in the Europa League for the 2025/26 campaign.

However, that was brought into question with French club Lyon finishing sixth in Ligue 1 and earning their own Europa League spot.

John Textor owned shares in both clubs and under UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, clubs with the same ownership group cannot play in the same competition. Any conflicts of interest for next season had to be sorted by March 1.

Textor – who Palace argue did not have overall control of the club – sold his 43 per cent stake in Crystal Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson – albeit after the March 1 deadline.

He then resigned from his leadership roles at Lyon when they were relegated to Ligue 2 after failing to convince authorities they have resolved their financial difficulties.

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This appeared to pave the way for Palace’s Europa League participation.

However, there was further uncertainty on Wednesday when Lyon won their appeal against their relegation and were reinstated to Ligue 1 – meaning they are able to take up their Europa League spot.

On Friday, it was confirmed by UEFA that Palace will move down a competition.

UEFA regulation 4.10 states Palace’s place should be taken by the next-best-placed club in the Premier League, which would be Nottingham Forest.

However, Forest’s place has not yet been confirmed, with UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body waiting until the outcome of the CAS appeal, Sky Sports reported.

The Star