Crystal Palace have lost their appeal against demotion from the Europa League and will compete in the Conference League instead. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) confirmed on Monday that the FA Cup winners failed to overturn Uefa's decision to punish them for breaching multi-club ownership rules.
Uefa demoted Palace after finding that John Textor held shares in both Palace and Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League, giving him decisive influence over both clubs. Textor has since sold his 44.9% stake to fellow US businessman Woody Johnson.
At the Cas hearing on Friday in Lausanne, a Palace delegation led by chairman Steve Parish argued that Textor never had decisive influence and was no longer at the club. They also claimed they were singled out and that Uefa's rules were not applied consistently, citing Nottingham Forest's case as an example where the deadline for compliance was extended.
Cas dismissed these arguments, stating: 'After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor... 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.'
As a result, Nottingham Forest, who qualified for the Conference League, are expected to be promoted to the Europa League. Palace will now face a Conference League playoff against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Fredrikstad or Midtjylland, with the first leg at Selhurst Park on 21 August.
Parish said after Sunday's Community Shield: 'I'm determined that we get the right outcome – if we don't, we'll have to look at if there's any steps after that.' Palace estimate missing the Europa League could cost up to £20m and may seek compensation from Uefa.
