Crystal Palace have been demoted from the UEFA Europa League to the UEFA Conference League due to a breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, the European football governing body confirmed on Friday.
The decision stems from the ownership structure involving American businessman John Textor, who holds a 43% stake in the Premier League club and is also the majority shareholder in French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais. Both clubs had qualified for the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League — Palace by winning the FA Cup, and Lyon by finishing sixth in Ligue 1.
Under UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership, two clubs with shared ownership cannot compete in the same European competition. In such cases, priority is given to the club that earned the higher domestic league position — in this instance, Lyon. As a result, Lyon will retain their Europa League spot, while Palace have been relegated to the third-tier UEFA Conference League.
Palace had qualified for European competition for the first time in their history after a historic FA Cup win in May, marking their first major trophy since the club’s founding in 1905.
UEFA requires that all multi-club conflicts be resolved by March 1 of the calendar year. While Textor has since reached an agreement to sell his stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, the deal was struck after UEFA’s deadline and has yet to be finalized. Because of this, the conflict remained unresolved at the cutoff date, prompting UEFA to enforce the rules.
Complicating the matter further was a separate dispute involving Lyon’s financial standing, which initially saw them barred from top-flight football in France. That decision was overturned earlier this week following an appeal, after Textor stepped back from day-to-day operations at the French club — a move believed to be aimed at easing regulatory concerns.
Crystal Palace are expected to challenge UEFA’s ruling and are preparing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to reclaim their Europa League berth.
Should the ruling stand, Nottingham Forest — who finished seventh in the Premier League last season — will be elevated to the Europa League, a UEFA source told AFP. Forest had originally been set to compete in the Conference League.
The case is the latest test of UEFA’s increasingly scrutinized multi-club ownership regulations, which have become more complex as cross-border investment in European football grows. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has previously indicated that tighter enforcement of these rules is necessary to preserve the integrity of continental competitions.
For now, Crystal Palace’s historic return to Europe will begin a tier lower than expected — a significant blow for the club’s ambitions and a reminder of the regulatory challenges that come with modern football ownership.