Exclusive: Marinakis ‘appetite’ to dictate Nottingham Forest legal fight v UEFA
Nottingham Forest may decide to take UEFA to court with Crystal Palace seemingly set to be awarded their place in the Europa League.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who explained to Football Insider what the Tricky Trees’ next steps are should the Eagles avoid exclusion from European competition.
Palace’s place in the Europa League was thrown into jeopardy by John Textor’s ownership of French side Lyon.
The American businessman’s shareholding violates UEFA‘s rules on multi-club ownership, and it looked as if the Eagles would be banned from competing in Europe’s second-tier competition.
Forest wrote to UEFA voicing their concern about Palace’s participation in the Europa League.
The Tricky Trees would likely take their Premier League rival’s place in the competition if they were barred from entry after finishing seventh last season.
However, Textor has agreed to sell his shares in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, and after the deal was agreed, Sky Sports’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol revealed on X that “UEFA will confirm in days that Palace can play in Europa League.”
Nottingham Forest must make decision on legal challenge
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley explained that Forest may choose to take on UEFA in court, but they would have to weigh up whether it was worth the cost of legal fees that would come with the challenge, and whether they had the “appetite” to do so.
The club’s previous decision to write to UEFA would suggest that the club are keen to do whatever they can to upgrade from a place in the Conference League to the Europa League.
The senior lecturer from Sheffield Hallam University cited the fact that, despite Textor agreeing to sell, Forest’s grievance had always been based on the fact that the American businessman had failed to put his shares in a blind trust before the deadline to do so earlier this year, something owner Evangelos Marinakis did when it looked like the Premier League club and Olympiacos may both qualify for the same competition.
Plumley said: “Ultimately, it comes down to how much of an appetite have they got to really take it on? Their argument has been and will be that, irrespective of the fact that he sold his shares now, he didn’t do it early enough to get ahead of the game.
“And that’ll be the argument that you would base it on if the situation with Lyon comes into that as well which adds another layer to the mix.
“But ultimately, I think if Forest were to go down that road, you’re looking at taking on UEFA principally because they’re decision makers.
“If it does play out that way and Forest lose out in that regard, it’s how much of an appetite they’ve got to take it on and that comes at a legal cost as well, of course.
“Ultimately, it’s kind of if they have an appetite for taking it further, and also knowing that you’ve got to bear the cost of the legal fees that come with it, and that’ll be the way they’ll decide whether or not to push any further with it.”
UEFA would prefer to go to court with Nottingham Forest
According to The Guardian, UEFA believe their ruleset is better suited to a legal challenge from Forest, rather than one from Palace.
A source from a European team believes the European governing body will give the Eagles “every opportunity” to make their case, in part due to concerns the current regulations “could be brought tumbling down” by Textor and Co.
In contrast, the belief is that the current rules in use by UEFA are much more suited to withstanding a challenge from Forest.
The Tricky Trees’ push for a place in the Europa League may be further hindered by Lyon’s relegation to Ligue 2 for financial reasons.
If UEFA judge the French club to be unworthy of a place in European competition, there would be little to no justification in barring Palace from playing on the continent next season.