Crystal Palace KICKED OUT of Europa League as UEFA release official statement

UEFA have confirmed that Crystal Palace will be demoted from this season's Europa League to the Conference League with Nottingham Forest expected to replace them in the second-tier competition.

The governing body had been evaluating whether the FA Cup winners should be kicked out because American shareholder John Textor is the majority owner of Lyon, the French side also qualified for the Europa League.

Textor, who owns 43% of Palace, had reiterated on Thursday that he never held direct influence over the club, insisting that he can prove he has never made “management decisions” at Selhurst Park.

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But he failed to place his stake in Palace into a blind trust by a March 1 deadline that was long before their Cup win and UEFA have decided to take exception by blocking their participation. They have, however, been allowed to play in the Conference League with an expectation that Forest, who were qualified for that competition, will swap places.

Palace are expected to launch an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport after UEFA said that its Club Financial Control Body's multi-club ownership criteria had been breached and would “reject Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League and to accept Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025-26 UEFA Conference League.”

On Tuesday Lyon won their appeal against relegation from Ligue 1 after they were relegated for financial reasons and had their demotion been upheld, they would have been excluded from Europe.

But their reinstatement has also seen their place in the Europa League secured, prompting UEFA to demote Palace instead.

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