Crystal Palace will play in the UEFA Conference League after The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled UEFA’s original decision to demote them from the Europa League will stand.
UEFA are expected to confirm that Nottingham Forest will take their place in the Europa League.
Palace will now consider their legal options.
More to follow…
A timeline of Palace’s European situation
March 1: UEFA’s deadline passes for clubs in multi-club groups to change their ownership structure.
At that point, Crystal Palace were 12th in the Premier League and in the FA Cup fifth round – a competition that still had Manchester City, Newcastle, Manchester United, Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham in it.
April 30: It is revealed Evangelos Marinakis has removed himself from control of Nottingham Forest, putting his shares into a blind trust when it looked like Forest would qualify for the Champions League alongside Olympiakos, also owned by the Greek billionaire.
May 17: Crystal Palace win the FA Cup by beating Manchester City 1-0, thereby qualifying for the Europa League.
On the same day, Lyon qualify for the Europa League on the final day of the Ligue 1 season. However, Lyon face the prospect of UEFA sanctions for failing to meet spending rules.
May 25: Forest fail to qualify for the Champions League on the final day of the Premier League season but reach the Conference League instead, so Marinakis takes back control of the club.
June 3: UEFA meet with Palace executives in Switzerland to discuss whether the Eagles are able to play in Europe next season. John Textor and Steve Parish attend the meeting to fight Palace’s case.
June 9: It is revealed Forest have written to UEFA warning that Palace could be in breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
June 25: It is announced that Lyon have been relegated from Ligue 1 after failing to convince authorities they have resolved their financial difficulties. The French club immediately say they will appeal the decision.
July 9: Lyon’s appeal is upheld, meaning they are reinstated to Ligue 1 and their spot in the Europa League is confirmed – bringing back doubt about Palace’s Europa League spot.
July 11: Palace’s demotion to the Conference League is announced by UEFA. The Eagles say they will appeal the decision through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
August 8: The CAS appeal begins in Lausanne, Switzerland – exactly one week before the start of the new Premier League season.
August 11: Crystal Palace will play in the Conference League after CAS ruled UEFA’s original decision to demote them from the Europa League will stand.
