Exclusive: Late Crystal Palace reprieve mooted for Europa League hopes from UEFA
Crystal Palace are facing the prospect of being barred from competing in the Europa League next season but there remains the possibility of a late u-turn.
This is the view of football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider that it would be a “real shame” if the Eagles were unable to compete in Europe next season.
UEFA changed their rules on multi-club ownership, forcing owners to put their shares in a club into a blind trust by March of this year, as opposed to the original deadline of June [UEFA].
Evangelos Marinakis and Jim Ratcliffe did so with Nottingham Forest and Lausanne Sport, respectively, given their shareholding in Olympiacos and Man United meant their clubs would not be able to compete in the same European competition.
But the same cannot be said for John Textor, who chose not to put his Palace shares in a blind trust with the South London club not looking like they would qualify for Europe.
The Eagles then stunned Man City 1-0 in the FA Cup final, earning a place in next season’s Europa League.
However, another of Textor’s clubs that he holds shares in, Lyon, also qualified for the UEFA’s second-tier competition and Palace are set to be barred from competing due to it being a violation of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
Crystal Palace ‘likely’ to miss out on Europa League next season
Speaking to Football Insider exclusively, finance expert Plumley said that whilst “there might be something that happens in the next couple of days”, it was “likely” that Palace would be unable to participate in next year’s Europa League.
The Telegraph reports that New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has now come forward with an offer for Textor’s Palace shares, but it remains to be seen whether a sale would affect UEFA’s judgment of the case.
Plumley said: “Unfortunately, given everything we’re seeing at the moment, if there’s no movement on that, I think it’s likely we see Palace not being able to compete in that competition which would be a real shame.
“And listen, I might be wrong on that.
“There might be something that happens in the next couple of days that changes that, but at the moment, it’s a really tough one to see it fall in Palace’s way and ultimately that would be a real shame.”
Nottingham Forest looking to capitalise on Crystal Palace’s plight
Should Palace be denied entry to European competition next season, it is likely their place in the Europa League would pass down to the Tricky Trees after they qualified for the Conference League by finishing seventh in the Premier League.
Forest have since written a letter to UEFA expressing their concern over the Eagles’ participation in the competition.
Plumley told Football Insider that a place in the group stage of the Europa League was worth €20million (£17m) alone.
The two clubs are also duelling in the transfer market, as Mick Brown told Football Insider both Forest and Palace are interested in signing Oscar Bobb on loan from Man City this summer.