UEFA has announced Crystal Palace’s exclusion from the 2025-26 Europa League.
The decision was made due to the FA Cup winners’ breach of club ownership rules, as their owner, John Textor, also owns French club Lyon.
The decision was expected after Lyon won their appeal against their relegation to Ligue 2 this week, allowing them to participate in the Europa League after finishing sixth in Ligue 1 last season.
Clubs owned by the same owner are prohibited from participating in the same UEFA competition, and Textor failed to meet the deadline to resolve the issue of multiple club ownership. Despite his recent attempt to do so by selling Palace to American billionaire Woody Johnson, the move came too late.
The decision stipulates that Crystal Palace will be relegated to the Europa Conference League, while Nottingham Forest will be promoted to the Europa League in place of the London club.
Palace, which has never participated in a major European competition, is expected to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a decision on Nottingham Forest’s inclusion in the Europa League will not be announced pending any legal proceedings against UEFA.
Palace’s four co-owners – Textor, Steve Parish, Josh Harris, and David Blitzer – were part of a club delegation that attended a meeting at UEFA headquarters in Nyon and argued that Textor had no decisive influence at Selhurst Park.
However, this did not convince UEFA, and the governing body rejected Textor and Blitzer’s attempt to place their shares in a trust fund because they missed the March deadline. The use of this fund has previously enabled other clubs owned by the same owners to play together in the same European competitions.
