John Textor issues parting dig as he explains decision to sell Crystal Palace stake | OneFootball

A conflict of interest saw Palace’s European hopes hanging by a thread

John Textor has explained why he sold his shares in Crystal Palace.

However, there were question marks over whether Palace would be able to compete in next season’s Europa League after their FA Cup triumph over Manchester City.

UEFA rules stipulated that clubs with the same owners could not compete in the same competition, with Textor’s consortium also owning Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League thanks to Paris Saint-Germain’s Coupe de France victory.

That meant that the Europa League qualification attached to the domestic trophy would transfer back over to Ligue 1, where Lyon had finished sixth.

Conversations and controversy rumbled on as Palace sweated over their place in the competition next season, but their chances of being in the draw for the group stage appear to have improved now that Textor has sold his shares and conflicting interest now does not appear to be an issue, pending approval from the Premier League and WSL.

Speaking to The Athletic about why he sold his stake in the club, Textor appeared to send a passing shot Palace’s way, saying that the Eagles did not “collaborate” with his other clubs as much as he would have liked.

“I believe Eagle is probably known to be the most collaborative multi-club in terms of the player movements between the clubs,” Textor explained.

“We have something called roster optimisation where we are looking at what each player needs and wants and what each club needs and wants, and then we fill the gaps in our squads.

“Collaboration helped us [Lyon] bounce off of the relegation zone at mid-season right in the Europa League and now in our second season in the Europa League, that comes from collaboration. It has helped us go from second division to champions of South America [with Botafogo] and collaboration is how we just beat PSG.

“It has disappointed me that our English league partner [Palace] has chosen not to accept any of our obviously qualified players from top teams, top leagues, and top national teams, and so to really promise player pathways to the players that we meet in different parts of the world, we have to have a collaborative UK partner. It’s a must. It is our promise to the athletes, it’s our promise to the community.

“That collaboration needs to go two ways and it doesn’t currently with Crystal Palace. That’s the reason we chose to sell.”

European dreams: Palace qualified for the Europa League with their FA Cup win

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Textor also revealed that his intentions at Selhurst Park were to help establish a winning mentality that had the club in Europe “every year” rather than a one-off cup win guaranteeing them qualification.

“We’re turnaround guys, we like a construction project,” he continued.

“There’s nothing more exciting for me than the idea of buying a second division team and getting promoted. But we might also look in the Premier League if we think there’s a real opportunity to catapult a team from mid-table to upper-table, we think we’re capable of doing that.

Should Palace now be admitted into the Europa League, they will not have to play any preliminary qualifying rounds.

Instead, they will be placed directly into the pot for the group stage.

Aston Villa will be the only other Premier League team in Europe’s secondary competition with six top-flight sides qualifying for the Champions League, while Nottingham Forest will play in the Conference League.