Europa League Demotion: Palace Loses CAS Appeal in Multi-Club Ownership Case

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by Crystal Palace FC seeking readmission to the UEFA Europa League after it had been demoted due to breach of multi-club ownership regulations.

The case centered on US businessman John Textor’s 43% stake in Palace through Eagle Football Holdings, alongside his stake in Olympique Lyonnais, which had also qualified for the Europa League. Clubs had until March 1, 2025, to change their ownership structures to comply with UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, but Palace missed the deadline.

Proceedings were initiated against Palace and Lyon due to a potential conflict with the multi-club ownership criteria under Article 5.01 of the UEFA Club Competitions Regulations.

On July 11, 2025, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) determined that both Palace and Lyon breached the multi-club ownership criteria under Article 5.01 of the UEFA Club Competitions Regulations, demoting Palace to the UEFA Conference League.

In its appeal before CAS, Palace sought annulment of the July 11 decision and also requested readmission to the UEFA Europa League, with Nottingham Forest’s or Lyon’s admission rejected.

The CAS Panel, however, found that Textor had shares in Palace and Lyon and was a Board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date. As to his resignation from Lyon’s board and the sale of Eagle Football’s stake in Palace to New York Jets co-owner Robert “Woody” Johnson, CAS held that the changes occurred after UEFA’s official assessment date.

CAS also rejected Palace’s claim of unfair treatment compared to Forest and Lyon and added that the UEFA Regulations were clear and did not provide flexibility to clubs non-compliant on the assessment date.