Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has hit out at his side’s ‘demotion’ from the Europa League, with two “incongruous” factors behind the decision.
On Friday evening, it was confirmed that the Premier League side have been ‘demoted’ from the Europa League following a supposed breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership regulations.
This comes amid John Textor’s involvement with Crystal Palace and Ligue Un outfit Lyon, though he has given up his role at each club in recent weeks.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup, while Lyon earned a spot by finishing sixth in Ligue Un in 2024/25.
This situation became more complicated as Lyon were relegated from Ligue Un to Ligue 2 and had their Europa League spot taken away due to their financial turmoil, though they have been reinstated in each competition following an appeal.
This verdict led to Palace being removed from the Europa League and placed in the Europa Conference League, with Nottm Forest due to take their place.
However, Palace are going to appeal this initial verdict, with Parish “devastated” at this decision.
“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,” Parish told Sky Sports News.
“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.
“I’m devastated for the players, for the fans, for the staff. 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.
“I don’t think UEFA want to see this. Clubs that rightfully qualify for a competition being locked out of that competition on the most ridiculous technicality that you could imagine.”
Parish also reckons Palace have fallen foul of a “crazy rule” amid two “incongruous” factors.
“We will appeal. I don’t want to prejudge [whether they’d win]. When I say we’ll appeal, we’re looking at all of the options at the moment. That obviously is one option. What we would much prefer is if somebody intervened in this process,” Parish continued.
“We believe it’s possible for Mr Ceferin or somebody to do that. There are a number of really important points that people need to consider.
“First of all, from what I can see, there’s no other rule around the licence that has a deadline. There are people still resolving their issues now, as we know. People who have to put money into bank accounts by next week and will have a test next week. So the date in itself seems an incongruous thing to do.
“Secondly, this is a rule we can’t comply with. A rule has been created that’s impossible for the majority owners of Crystal Palace to comply with. A minority shareholder needed to either sell or place their shares in trust. We had no power to compel them to do that.
“That part alone is completely incongruous. How can you pass a rule and sanction a club for a rule they couldn’t comply with?
“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.”