Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Crystal Palace’s appeal on Monday against UEFA’s decision to demote them from the Europa League to the Conference League, which is the third division.
Because Lyon was then majority owned by the Eagle Football Group and Palace was mostly owned by their chairman, John Textor, UEFA relegated Palace while permitting Olympique Lyonnais to compete in the Europa League.
In the Europa League, Palace will be replaced by Nottingham Forest, who placed seventh in the Premier League the previous season.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
A request for comment was not immediately answered by Palace. Last month, Palace, the FA Cup winners who earned a spot in the Europa League, filed an appeal against UEFA’s ruling.
The appeal was filed just days before Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson, a co-owner of the New York Jets, finalised the acquisition of Textor-founded Eagle Football Holdings’ Palace interest.
Additionally, Textor resigned from Lyon’s board of directors, and Michele Kang was named president and chairwoman.
The French team was permitted to retain their spot since they had finished better in their respective leagues, even though both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League.
Palace placed 12th in the Premier League, while Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month
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