Crystal Palace Demoted to Conference League

*from Europa
Premier League side Crystal Palace have been dropped in European competition to the third-tier Conference League in a multi-club ownership case, while Olympique Lyonnais will be allowed to play in the Europa League, UEFA said on Friday.

The Eagle Football Group are majority owners of Lyon, while their chairman, John Textor, also owns a controlling stake in Palace.

Palace had qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season, while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1.

A move to relegate them to France’s domestic second-tier Ligue 2 over their poor finances was overturned on Wednesday, a decision UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) had been waiting for before ruling on the multi-club ownership case.

“Consequently, the CFCB First Chamber pursued the assessment of the documentation submitted by Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace and concluded that the clubs breached, as at 1 March 2025, the multi-club ownership criteria,” UEFA said in a statement.

As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place as they finished higher in their respective league, with Palace finishing 12th in the Premier League.

Palace can still appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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