Crystal Palace appeals Europa League expulsion
Crystal Palace will discover by 11 August if it will participate in the Europa League or Conference League next season.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed Crystal Palace lodged an appeal against its expulsion from the Europa League, with a verdict due by 11 August.
Earlier this month, UEFA confirmed the FA Cup winner had been thrown out of the Europa League and would instead play in the Conference League in 2025-2026.
That decision came about due to Palace supposedly breaching UEFA's rules on multi-club ownership. John Textor's company, Eagle Football Holdings, held a 43.9 percent stake in the Selhurst Park club while also controlling Lyon.
Claims of financial mismanagement led to Lyon being provisionally demoted from Ligue 1 and kicked out of Europe in June, as Textor resigned from his role with the French giant. However, it won an appeal and will participate in the Europa League, having finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season.
With the two clubs unable to participate in the same competition, Textor attempted to convince UEFA he had no control over Palace and sold his stake in the club to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, but that action came too late to influence UEFA's ruling.
Palace immediately announced it would fight the decision, with chairman Steve Parish also outlining his belief that Nottingham Forest – who stand to take Palace's place in the Europa League – had pushed for the Eagles' expulsion.
CAS confirmed the receipt of Palace's appeal via a media release, which read: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirms receipt of an appeal by Crystal Palace FC against UEFA, Nottingham Forest and Olympique Lyonnais 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 seeks to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, 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.
"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.
"This will be an expedited procedure with an operative decision (without grounds) to be rendered on or before 11 August 2025."
Forest was originally due to take part in the Conference League after finishing seventh in the Premier League in 2024-2025.
The draw for the play-off round of that competition, which was supposed to include Forest, will take place on 4 August, with the two legs of that stage set for 21 and 28 August.
