Crystal Palace demoted to Conference League with Nottingham Forest set to take Europa League spot | OneFootball

Crystal Palace have been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League for next season following a UEFA ruling.

Palace achieved automatic qualification to the Europa League after their historic FA Cup win against Manchester City in May.

However, French club Lyon, who are co-owned by soon-to-be departing Palace co-owner John Textor, also qualified for the Europa League after finishing sixth in Ligue 1.

UEFA regulations state that two clubs that are part of the same ownership control cannot compete in the same competition, and that the team that finished highest in their domestic league take priority. Despite their cup triumph, Palace only finished 12th in the Premier League.

Lyon were provisionally relegated to Ligue 2 after France’s financial watchdog, the DNCG (Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion), raised concerns about mounting debts.

This had offered hope for Palace and their chances of playing in UEFA’s second tier club competition, with Lyon agreeing that they would not take part should their relegation be upheld.

But after Lyon won their appeal to remain in the French top flight, the writing appeared on the wall for Oliver Glasner’s side.

A deadline of March 1st for resolving multi-club ownership issues was not met, and despite Textor agreeing a deal to sell his Palace shares to fellow American Woody Johnson, the move was deemed too late.

In a statement from UEFA, they said: “In accordance with the provisions set in Art. 5.02, 5.03 and 5.04 of the UEFA Club Competitions Regulations, the CFCB First Chamber decided to accept Olympique Lyonnais’ admission to the 2025/26 UEFA 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 present decision may be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of the UEFA Statutes.”

Palace are expected to appeal the decision but Nottingham Forest, who qualified for the Conference League after a seventh place finish in the Premier League, will now likely take Palace’s position in the Europa League.