Crystal Palace Club is facing the risk of being eliminated from the Europa League in the 2025/26 season, after the Lyon Club won the relegate appeal and officially stayed at Ligue 1.
Palace won the Europa League thanks to the FA Cup champion last season. However, UEFA has strict regulations on multi -club ownership, which prohibits an individual or legal entity that has an influence on the two clubs to attend a European tournament.
The problem arises because John Textor, who was the largest co -ownership of Crystal Palace, also owned up to 77% of the shares in Lyon – the team also won the right to attend the Europa League after successfully appealing to the relegation of French football control agencies (DNCG).
To avoid violating UEFA regulations, Textor sold 42.9% of shares at Crystal Palace to Woody Johnson (owner of New York Jets), with a deal worth about £ 190 million. In addition, he resigned as Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of Lyon.
However, it is worth mentioning that both of these moves take place after March 1 – the deadline that UEFA requires to ensure compliance with the rules of multi -club ownership. Therefore, legally, UEFA has the right to eliminate Palace from the Europa League due to the conflict of interest with Lyon.
Initially, Palace seemed to be “saved” when Lyon was relegated Ligue 2 due to financial problems – what made them not eligible for the European Cup next season. But after the appeal was successful, Lyon was kept Ligue 1 and thereby restored the Europa League thanks to 6th in Ligue 1 last season. Lyon is also ranked on Palace if prioritized according to domestic achievements.
UEFA has postponed Palace's case to wait for Lyon's appeal results. Now, with Lyon officially relegated, Palace can be removed by UEFA from the Europa League, even pushed down to the Europa Conference League, while Nottingham Forest will be the place in the Europa League.
If UEFA actually decides the Palace type, it is likely that this team will sue and bring the case legal, because they think that the changes have been made and have no conflict.
The current situation is still very complicated and has not ended, but it is clear that Lyon's appeal to stay in Ligue 1 has made Palace fall into a passive position, and there is a risk of losing the Europa League full of valuable.
