While Nuno Espírito Santo prepares Nottingham Forest for the UEFA Conference League, Crystal Palace’s ongoing issues with UEFA could still impact the club.
Forest have asked UEFA for clarification over Palace and their involvement in next season’s Europa League, which looks to be in breach of the rules surrounding multi-club ownership in the same UEFA competition.
The same issue saw Irish side Drogheda removed from the Europa League, which is relevant to Forest as if the same were to happen to Palace, it would be the Reds that would take their place.
Palace’s fate is yet to be sealed, though, with one new report detailing how UEFA are feeling about the situation, including how they would prefer to deal with Evangelos Marinakis’ request for clarification.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis at Wembley Stadium.
Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
How UEFA feel about handling Evangelos Marinakis’ concerns
Marinakis suspended his involvement in Forest as a measure to get around the rules in the event that Olympiacos and Forest ended up in the same competition, a scenario that was avoided.
So the Forest owner will be wondering why John Textor didn’t do the same thing and, therefore, what UEFA will do about it. However, according to The Guardian, European football’s governing body would prefer to take on Marinakis than deal with the Palace issue.
Nottingham Forest have written to UEFA to voice their concerns about Crystal Palace's scheduled involvement in the Europa League next season.
Saying that Palace could be in breach of the multi-club ownership rules. pic.twitter.com/QSaRA1V3Vo
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 9, 2025
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The report said: “A source close to Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, told the Guardian the Greek billionaire was opposed to many of the moves to regulate football and was prepared to take on UEFA.
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“[…] At UEFA there is a feeling that it would rather face Forest at CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] than have its multi-club framework tested in court by Palace.”
Clearly, then, Marinakis will need to tread carefully if he wants a quick answer to this issue, as UEFA are more than willing to battle in court about his potential grievances, which could end up working in Palace’s favour.
How Evangelos Marinakis may actually be helping Crystal Palace
Marinakis has no problem with upsetting the apple cart if he deems it the right thing to do for Forest, as seen at the end of the season when Gary Neville was banned from the City Ground due to their continuing public spat.
In this case, though, it may be having an adverse effect, as the report continues to explain how Crystal Palace could benefit from Marinakis’ issues with UEFA.
It continued: “One figure at a European team with direct experience of multi-club contortions believes Uefa will give Palace every opportunity to pass muster, concurring that the governing body’s regulations could be brought tumbling down in the event Textor and company mounted a challenge.
“An examination brought about by Forest would, they suggested, give the existing rules a far better chance of holding firm.”
It seems fairly clear that the rules on multi-ownership will need to be looked at to avoid these issues from continuously springing up, but Marinakis’ current involvement in the discussions doesn’t look set to benefit Forest.