Crystal Palace appeal against Europa League demotion: What does this mean for Nottingham Forest and Lyon?

Crystal Palace have appealed against UEFA’s decision to demote them from the Europa League to the Conference League with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

Oliver Glasner’s side had initially earned a place in next season’s Europa League after winning the FA Cup in May, their first ever major domestic trophy.

However, the Eagles were punished earlier this month for breaching multi-club ownership rules as American businessman John Textor owns a stake in the club and is the majority owner of Ligue 1 side Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.

Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings group owns 90% of Lyon and 43% of Palace, though his stake in the latter is now in the process of being sold to fellow American businessman Woody Johnson for a reported £190m.

UEFA’s decision to demote Palace not only benefits Lyon, but it may also see Nottingham Forest - who finished seventh in the Premier League last season - promoted from the Conference League to replace the Eagles in the Europa League, although this is yet to be confirmed by UEFA.

CAS statement in full confirming Crystal Palace appeal against Europa League demotion

In their appeal to CAS, Palace have requested an annulment of the decision by UEFA’s Financial Control Body and readmission to the 2025-26 Europa League in place of either Lyon or Forest.

A statement from CAS released on Tuesday read: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirms receipt of an appeal by Crystal Palace FC against UEFA, Nottingham Forest FC (Nottingham Forest) and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) concerning a decision by UEFA to remove Crystal Palace from the UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 due to an alleged breach of multi club ownership regulations.

“The appeal filed on July 21, 2025 seeks to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body on July 11, 2025 which found Crystal Palace and OL non-compliant with multi club ownership regulations and placed Crystal Palace in the UEFA Conference League 2025-2026. Alongside the annulment, Crystal Palace requests readmission to the UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 with Nottingham Forest's admission rejected. In the alternative, Crystal Palace requests readmission to the UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 with OL's admission rejected.

“The Parties are currently exchanging written submissions in accordance with the arbitration rules governing CAS appeals procedures. Following this process, a hearing will be scheduled. CAS hearings are not open to the public unless agreed by the Court and all Parties.

“This will be an expedited procedure with an operative decision (without grounds) to be rendered on or before August 11, 2025.”

Parish “devastated” by UEFA’s “incongruous” decision

UEFA rules state that clubs with the same ownership group cannot play in the same competition and a deadline of March 1, 2025 was set for all European clubs to show evidence of multi-club ownership restructuring, but Crystal Palace missed that deadline.

Palace’s four principal owners - Textor, chairman Steve Parish, David Blitzer and Josh Harris - all met with UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body at their headquarters in Nyon last month to present their case that Textor did not have decisive influence at the club beyond the March 1 deadline, but UEFA did not accept the Premier League club's defence.

Parish has since slammed UEFA’s decision, telling Sky Sports earlier this month: "Obviously we're devastated. We're devastated for, most importantly, the supporters. I think the supporters of all clubs should be devastated for us because this is the dream.

"You win a cup, actually win something for the first time in your history. Somebody said to me it's like winning the lottery, going to the counter and you don't get the prize.

“It's a bad day for football. I think most right-minded football fans will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club, one that I dearly hope somebody can remedy because I do believe that nobody in football wants to see this.

"Obviously, as everybody knows, John or anybody at Eagle Football [Textor's company] didn't have decisive influence over Crystal Palace. Everybody knows this. Everybody knows we're not part of a multi-club [ownership]. Everybody knows we have no staff, no players from Lyon, no loans, no transactions.

"We've caught a tripwire. We're caught up in a rule that wasn't put there for us. It will change. Nobody's going to stick with this rule. It's a crazy rule. I don't understand why the panel have come to the conclusion they've come to.

"We've proved to them beyond all reasonable doubt that John didn't have decisive influence over anything to do with the football club, yet still they've come up with this decision, which seems incongruous."

What does Palace’s appeal mean for Lyon and Forest?

Should Palace be successful in their appeal to CAS, then they would be reinstated into next season’s Europa League, leaving Lyon and Nottingham Forest’s European fate in the balance.

Forest are guaranteed to play some form of European football next season, but a successful appeal for Palace would see Nuno Espirito Santo’s men remain in the Conference League, while Lyon - whose relegation from Ligue 1 for financial mismanagement has been officially overturned - could be kicked out of Europe altogether.

Written by
Oliver Thomas