Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish says the club’s demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League is “one of the greatest injustices” in the history of European football.
Parish says Palace will appeal the decision of UEFA but hopes the governing body’s president Aleksander Ceferin will intervene and restore his club’s position in the Europa League, a reward they earned by winning the FA Cup last season.
John Textor’s involvement with Palace and French side Lyon was deemed to have breached UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, which state clubs with the same ownership group cannot play in the same competition. Any conflicts of interest for next season had to be sorted by March 1.
UEFA confirmed Palace’s demotion to the Conference League on Friday after Lyon – who had been relegated from Ligue 1 due to financial difficulties – were reinstated to the French top flight, therefore taking up their position in the Europa League.
Parish strongly rejects the idea Palace and Lyon were part of a multi-club ownership group and said it was a “crazy rule” Palace have been judged to have fallen foul of.
“Obviously we’re devastated,” he told Sky Sports News in an exclusive interview. “We’re devastated for, most importantly, the supporters. I think the supporters of all clubs should be devastated for us because this is the dream.
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Sky Sports chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol explains why Crystal Palace have been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League and what will happen next if they decide to appeal
“You win a cup, actually win something for the first time in your history. Somebody said to me it’s like winning the lottery, going to the counter and you don’t get the prize.
“I’m devastated for the players, for the fans, for the staff. It’s a bad day for football.
“I think most right-minded football fans will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club, one that I dearly hope somebody can remedy because I do believe that nobody in football wants to see this.
“I don’t think UEFA want to see this. Clubs that rightfully qualify for a competition being locked out of that competition on the most ridiculous technicality that you could imagine.
“We will appeal. I don’t want to prejudge [whether they’d win]. When I say we’ll appeal, we’re looking at all of the options at the moment. That obviously is one option. What we would much prefer is if somebody intervened in this process.
“We believe it’s possible for Mr Ceferin or somebody to do that. There are a number of really important points that people need to consider.
“First of all, from what I can see, there’s no other rule around the licence that has a deadline. There are people still resolving their issues now, as we know. People who have to put money into bank accounts by next week and will have a test next week. So the date in itself seems an incongruous thing to do.
“Secondly, this is a rule we can’t comply with. A rule has been created that’s impossible for the majority owners of Crystal Palace to comply with. A minority shareholder needed to either sell or place their shares in trust. We had no power to compel them to do that.
“That part alone is completely incongruous. How can you pass a rule and sanction a club for a rule they couldn’t comply with?
“Obviously, as everybody knows, John or anybody at Eagle Football [Textor’s company] didn’t have decisive influence over Crystal Palace. Everybody knows this. Everybody knows we’re not part of a multi-club [ownership]. Everybody knows we have no staff, no players from Lyon, no loans, no transactions.
“We’ve caught a tripwire. We’re caught up in a rule that wasn’t put there for us.
“It will change. Nobody’s going to stick with this rule. It’s a crazy rule. I don’t understand why the panel have come to the conclusion they’ve come to.
“We’ve proved to them beyond all reasonable doubt that John didn’t have decisive influence over anything to do with the football club, yet still they’ve come up with this decision, which seems incongruous.”
UEFA at a crossroads, says Parish
Parish says the case shows UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules need an overhaul – but called on the authorities to act now to readmit Palace into the Europa League.
“It’s such an incredible travesty of justice, something every football fan should be worried about when teams with the same name have played in these competitions.
“Either you have these multi-clubs or you ban them. They need to find a way through this. But notwithstanding that, we were never part of one. As everybody knows my position on them, I don’t think they’re generally the right thing to do. Other people disagree with me. That’s fine. But we have nothing to do with them.
“There’s a real crossroads here for UEFA to look at. Do they intervene and do the right thing, which is what I think they should do, which is what I think they want to do?
“Or do they let this process play out and see probably one of the greatest injustices that have ever happened in European football?”
Johnson receives Premier League approval to buy Palace stake
Exclusive from Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has received Premier League approval to buy Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Crystal Palace.
John Textor will therefore have absolutely nothing to do with Palace in a matter of days.
Textor’s 43 per cent stake in the London club has now been sold to Johnson in a deal worth more than £190m.
On Friday, Palace were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League following a UEFA ruling due to Lyon, who Textor is a shareholder in, also being in the competition.
