‘UEFA ready to fight Nottingham Forest at CAS, wary of Crystal Palace’
UEFA would prefer to go to court with Nottingham Forest over Crystal Palace due to concerns the South London club could cause irreparable damage.
The European governing body finds itself locked between the Tricky Trees and the Eagles, with both clubs fighting for a place in the Europa League.
Palace qualified by virtue of winning the FA Cup over Man City, earning themselves a place in Europe’s second-tier club competition.
Forest, meanwhile, suffered a seismic end-of-season collapse, slipping from the Premier League’s top five and a place in the Champions League, down to seventh and qualification to the Conference League.
But John Textor’s majority shareholding of Palace and French side Lyon, who have both qualified for the Europa League, violates UEFA‘s multi-club ownership rules.
Forest have since written to UEFA to voice their concerns over the Eagles’ participation in the competition next season.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side would most likely be the beneficiaries of Palace’s exclusion from the Europa League, as their final position in the Premier League table could see them upgraded from Europe’s third-tier competition to its second-tier.
However, according to The Guardian, UEFA may be inclined to side with the Eagles, due to fears their rules may not stand up to the scrutiny of a legal challenge at the Court of Sports Arbitration (CAS).
CAS likely to side with Forest, UEFA will give Palace every chance
In a desperate attempt to avoid Palace’s expulsion from the competition, Textor is working on a deal to sell his shares to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
However, that may not matter as Mexican side Club Leon found out when they appealed their expulsion from the Club World Cup.
The club are part of the same ownership group that is in control of Pachuca, Grupo Pachuca, and despite attempting to move their ownership of Leon to a separate trust, CAS still voted to bar their entry to the competition.
But according to the report, despite Palace’s concerns, given the precedent set by the ruling against the Mexican side, there is a feeling at UEFA that the governing body would “rather face Forest at CAS than have its multi-club framework tested in court” by the Eagles.
A source from a European team with “direct experience of multi-club contortions” believes the European governing body will give Palace “every opportunity” to make their case, as the “governing body’s regulations could be brought tumbling down in the event Textor and company mounted a challenge.”
In contrast, the feeling is that UEFA’s rules are much better suited to withstanding an examination from Forest.
FIFA and CAS precedent leave Nottingham Forest well positioned
Football Insider Verdict
Ultimately, this case seems destined to be headed to the Court of Sports Arbitration (CAS), which is not a good thing for Palace.
CAS have already ruled that Leon was unable to feature in the Club World Cup for multi-club ownership reasons, and Drogheda United will not compete in the Conference League next season on the same basis [BBC Sport].
A precedent has been set, and Palace’s case now seems to be solely resting on their argument that their majority shareholder has nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the club, after it was revealed that UEFA had notified Textor of the March deadline that was missed, and has led to this whole debacle.
Forest’s attempts to strong-arm their way into the competition are callous, but ultimately, the Tricky Trees followed the rules set out by UEFA.
Evangelos Marinakis parked his shares in the club in a blind trust [The Guardian], although the whole requirement looks utterly meaningless, given the Greek owner still found the time to storm onto the City Ground pitch to berate Santo, despite no longer having a direct association with the club on paper.
Meanwhile, Palace and Textor, who actually has no involvement in the club’s day-to-day running, look set to be barred from competing in Europe for the first time in their history.