Crystal Palace reportedly have a glimmer of hope that UEFA’s rules are more flexible than many thought, potentially paving the way for their Europa League entry.
The London club are appealing their exile from the competition with the Court of Arbitration for Sport after they were ‘demoted’ due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
As it stands, Palace are set to compete in the Europa Conference League because their former owner John Textor also has a stake in Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League as well.
UEFA set a deadline of March 1 for clubs to provide evidence of multi-club ownership restructuring. Essentially, it is banned for a powerful figure like Textor to be a controlling figure at two clubs in the same competition. The American has insisted he did not have a ‘decisive influence at Palace’ – a claim which is hotly contested.
It is a long shot, but The Telegraph reports that clubs received an email last year which suggests that the deadline is actually beyond March 1.
The European Club Association (ECA) told numerous multi-club groups in October that the deadline is flexible, and would allow issues to be resolved until May 31, as per The Telegraph.
Crystal Palace may have a glimmer of hope with regards to their Europa League spot
Clubs were told they had until May 31 – not March 1 – to solve multi-club ownership issues
John Textor still missed that deadline but it gives hope that UEFA are more flexible than they have been letting on
Textor sold his 43 per cent stake in Palace to Woody Johnson for £190million in June, and resigned from his board leadership role at Lyon in the same months, so missed the more flexible deadline on both of those counts.
But according to The Telegraph, the ECA email still gives encouragement to Palace because it suggests that UEFA are more flexible than they are letting on. The ECA declined to comment to The Telegraph.
Palace insist the March 31 deadline has only been applied strictly to them – clubs such as Chelsea, Barcelona and Aston Villa have all negotiated fines for financial breaches in recent weeks.
In any case, UEFA have told Palace that Textor ‘historically’ owning a stake in Palace and Lyon is an issue.
The Selhurst Park side argue he had no ‘decisive influence,’ but he did pay off the club’s Covid-19 debt and help establish the Palace academy.
Textor also passes off Palace’s hiring of FA Cup-winning coach Oliver Glasner shortly after he admits he almost gave him the Lyon job as a happy coincidence – and you can read Ian Ladyman’s views on that here.
Palace won their first major competition, the FA Cup, in May, a tournament they would have had little inkling that they would win back before the March 1 deadline, when they still had four games left to play.
Fans launched a flare-fuelled protest against UEFA’s decision on Tuesday night, waving a banner which read: ‘UEFA. Morally bankrupt. Revoke the ruling now.’
