Why have Crystal Palace been relegated to the Conference League?

CRYSTAL Palace have officially been banned from the Europa League and relegated to the Conference League, after losing an appeal against the decision.

The Eagles won the FA Cup in May after Eberechi Eze’s goal secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City and the club’s first major domestic trophy.

Qualification to Uefa’s second biggest club competition ordinarily comes with winning the FA Cup.

But Palace won’t feature in the Europa League next season – SunSport brings you the reason why.

Why have Crystal Palace been relegated to the Conference League?

Crystal Palace have been banned from competing in the Europa League for being in the same multi-club ownership group as French giants Lyon after the March 1 Uefa disengagement deadline.

The ban was expected when Lyon won their appeal against relegation to Ligue 2 after they were demoted for financial reasons.

Following the successful appeal, Les Gones are now allowed to feature in the Europa League after they qualified by finishing sixth in the French top flight last term.

Eagle Football Holdings – owned by John Textor – holds stakes in both Palace and Lyon, and Uefa rules state that clubs owned to a certain threshold of influence by the same person or entity cannot compete in the same European competition.

The American businessman recently agreed to sell his shares in the London club to billionaire Woody Johnson, but the sale has not been completed and is deemed too late.

Uefa chiefs have ruled that Palace must play in the Conference League and make a European bow in a play-off next month – with Nottingham Forest, who finished 7th in the Prem, set to be promoted in their place.

It will cost Palace an immediate £3.9m in Uefa appearance money – boosting Forest by the same amount.

In a statement, Uefa said its Club Financial Control Body confirmed the decision by French financial chiefs had cleared Lyon’s path to take up their place in the Europa League.

Uefa added: “Consequently, the CFCB pursued the assessment of the documentation submitted by Lyons and Crystal Palace and concluded that the clubs breached, as at 1 March 2025, the multi-club ownership criteria foreseen in Art 5.01 of the Uefa Club Competition Regulations.

“For this reason the CFCB First Chamber decided: To accept Lyons’ admission to the 2025/26 Europa League.

“And to 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.”

The Eagles appealed to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport on the grounds that they had been singled out and Uefa’s rules weren’t being applied consistently.

However, their appeal was denied on August 11 because Textor was deemed to have “decisive influence” over the club. This came just one day after Palace’s dramatic Community Shield victory over Liverpool.

It is understood that Palace will make a financial claim against Uefa for compensation.