Crystal Palace ‘will struggle’ – CAS set to side with UEFA after appeal
Crystal Palace will struggle to win their case against UEFA in the Court of Sports Arbitration.
That is the view of football finance expert Dan Plumley, who explained to Football Insider exclusively that CAS will be unlikely to overturn UEFA’s decision, despite John Textor’s departure from the club.
Crystal Palace qualified for a major European competition for the first time in their history after beating Man City in the FA Cup final last season.
But Textor’s majority shareholding in both Crystal Palace and French side Lyon breached UEFA‘s rules on multi-club ownership, and the Eagles have since been relegated to the Conference League from the Europa League.
The South London side has appealed the decision to CAS, although a precedent was set earlier in the summer when both Drogheda and Club Leon were barred from entry into the Europa League and Club World Cup, respectively.
Crystal Palace appeal set to be denied
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley, a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, explained that despite their appeal, he could not see UEFA’s decision being overturned by CAS.
He said: “Palace will struggle to get it overturned. And of course, it was always going to be a legal, independent commission.
“It will be decided in that way, and that’s how it has to be. The regulations were there, which is what the argument will be, and every club was aware of those regulations and the deadline; others complied and got that done where they needed to.
“It’s pretty clear that Palace are in that multi-club ownership model, whether they state that Textor was involved in the day-to-day or not.
“It’s clear that they are part of that model. I think it’s unlikely that they win this case, but what they’ll also be arguing is that they’ve made an honest mistake and they didn’t expect to get this [European football].
“There’s mitigation all the way through it, and that’s what they’ll be arguing. But I just think if you look at the way the rules are positioned, UEFA are being pretty firm on it, and the independent commission would side with them; those rules and regulations were in place [before Palace qualified].
“And I think that’s where I’m looking at it going, it’s just unlikely it gets overturned, but we don’t know, ultimately, it’ll be part of the mitigation.
“It does have to get done pretty quickly as well, because these competitions have started and the qualifying phases will roll on from here. It’s a tricky one, and I think it’s going to be unfortunate for Palace, but I just can’t see them getting it overturned.
“What I keep coming back to with that deadline and the rules and the regulations, I take the unfairness point to a degree, but ultimately the response is, well, everybody knew where the regulations were and everybody knew what the date was.
“Even if you didn’t think you were going to get into Europe, you could have still done it. And that’ll be what I imagine the case will rest on.”
Woody Johnson eyes full takeover of Crystal Palace
Textor sold his shares in the club in a bid to help with their case to both UEFA and CAS, although it seems too little too late at this point.
Woody Johnson bought those shares, and the American businessman may try to buy further shareholding in Crystal Palace further down the line.
The New York Jets owner failed in his bid to buy Chelsea in 2022, missing out to Todd Boehly and his consortium.