Crystal Palace have slammed UEFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after their appeal against demotion to the Europa Conference League was rejected.
The club had contested UEFA’s decision to remove them from the Europa League over multi-club ownership rules but failed to overturn the ruling at CAS on Monday.
As a result, Palace will take part in the third-tier European competition in the upcoming season.
UEFA found that the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon, while Palace chairman John Textor held a controlling stake in the London side at the time of the assessment in March.
The governing body deemed this a breach of its ownership regulations, with Nottingham Forest – who finished seventh in the Premier League last season – replacing Palace in the Europa League.
In response, Palace suggested that “certain clubs, organisations and individuals” held “a unique privilege and power”, while questioning the fairness of the appeal process.
“At a time when we should be celebrating our victory in the Community Shield at Wembley, the decision by UEFA and followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless.
“When we won the FA Cup against Manchester City on that momentous day in May, our manager and players earned the right to play Europa League football. We have been denied that opportunity.
“It appears that certain clubs, organisations and individuals have a unique privilege and power.
“This growing and unhealthy influence has shattered the hopes and dreams of Crystal Palace supporters, and does not bode well for aspirational teams all over Europe competing to progress when rules and sanctions are unevenly applied in the most flagrant way.
“Multi-club structures hide behind the charade of a ‘blind trust’ while clubs such as ours, who have no connection to another club whatsoever, are prevented from playing in the same competition.
“To compound the injustice, clubs that appear to have huge informal arrangements with each other are also allowed to participate and even possibly play against each other.
“While we respect the CAS tribunal members, the process is designed to severely restrict and, in our case, make it almost impossible to receive a fair hearing.
“The denial of all disclosure requests to obtain correspondence between the relevant parties, the refusal to allow witness testimony from those involved, and the general lack of formality and respect for law mean decisions cannot be properly challenged, leading to pre-determined outcomes.
“UEFA’s decision has wider implications for the governance of the sport. A combination of poorly conceived regulations and their unequal application means our brilliant fans will be deprived of the chance to watch this team compete in the Europa League for the first time in our history.
“This should be a turning point for football. UEFA must fulfil its mandate to pass coherent rules which are properly communicated and applied, with reasonable cure periods to resolve uncertainty and consistent sanctions, treating all clubs equally with a proper appeal process.
“The European Court of Justice has made it clear that rulings similar to this will be under greater scrutiny from national courts in future. Only then will fairness and due process be granted to every team.
“Although we continue to take legal advice on the next steps, we will compete in the Conference League with the same determination and will to win that characterises this incredible club.”
