Crystal Palace demoted to Conference League as Uefa awards Nottingham Forest a Europa League place

Uefa has demoted Crystal Palace to the Conference League, the third tier of European football, with Nottingham Forest set to move into the Europa League in their place.

European football’s governing body announced the decision to “reject Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League” on Friday, 11 July, deeming the club to be in breach of its multi-club ownership rules.

The decision comes after Lyon’s relegation from Ligue 1 was reversed by French football’s financial regulator, the DNCG, upon their own appeal.

Palace originally qualified for the Europa League by virtue of their victory in the FA Cup final, with Oliver Glasner’s side securing a famous win over Manchester City in May.

But their participation in Uefa’s second-tier competition was quickly thrown into doubt due to co-owner John Textor’s majority ownership stake of 77 per cent of Lyon.

Uefa regulations prohibit individual or legal entities having control or influence over more than one club participating in the same competition. Lyon are given precedence over Palace for the Europa League spot due to finishing higher in their domestic league.

Textor recently sold his 42.9 per cent stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in a deal thought to be worth almost £190m, in a bid to aid Palace’s argument that he does not have “decisive influence” on the club. However, that deal was completed after the 1 March deadline that Uefa set for resolving such issues.

And with Lyon being reinstated to the French top flight, Uefa announced that the club “will not be excluded from the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions” after “an assessment by the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB)”.

Uefa have accepted Palace into the Conference League, and reports suggest their place in the Europa League will be taken by Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier league last term.

However, a Uefa statement added that “the present decision may be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport”, and with Palace believed to be likely to lodge an appeal, the governing body will wait for any court proceedings to end before announcing a decision on Forest.