English football club, Crystal Palace FC, will play in the third-tier Conference League after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the decision by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) remains.
The club, which won the 2025 Community Shield against Liverpool on Sunday, will not be able to compete in the Europa League, as Nottingham Forest will take their place.
The club went to CAS after UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) ruled that they must drop down to the Conference League as they had not put arrangements in place before a March 1 deadline to comply with multi-club ownership restrictions.
CAS ruled on Monday that it should stand and that Crystal Palace must go into the qualifying round for UEFA’s third-tier European competition.
A statement from CAS read: “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 ruling is a severe financial blow to Crystal Palace and could cost the club about £20 million compared to the prize money available in the Europa League.
The issue stems from a former shareholder, Mr John Textor, who is the owner of French club, Olympique Lyonnais, who have also qualified for the Europa League, sold his stake in the English football outfit last month. The club argued that he never had any decision-making influence at the Premier League club.
UEFA’s rules do not allow any flexibility or exemption for clubs whose shareholders sell their stake after March 1 but before the start of the new season.
This may be what the CAS tribunal took into consideration as Palace had not put arrangements in place before the March 1 deadline.
In a similar case Manchester City and their Spanish sister club Girona under the ownership of City Football Group (CFG), and Manchester United and French club Nice (under Sir Jim Ratcliffe), were allowed to compete in the same European competition last season. However, this is because blind trusts were set up for Girona and Nice, with club directors linked to Manchester City and Manchester United respectively stepping down from the boards.