Steve Parish John Textor Crystal Palace
(Credit: Getty Images)
Stefan Borson
Sun 29 June 2025 15:25, UK
Crystal Palace are waiting to hear whether or not they will be permitted to play in the Europa League next season after a new Lyon twist has emerged.
John Textor has agreed to sell his Palace shares to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson in a move to help the club play in the European competition.
Textor’s ownership of Lyon has presented a stumbling block after the French side also qualified for the Europa League, with Uefa’s rules prohibiting clubs controlled by the same owners or directors from competing in the same European competition.
However, Palace could now be cleared to play in the Europa League after Lyon have been relegated to Ligue 2.
They were provisionally demoted by the DNGC, which oversees the accounts of French professional football clubs, in November last year.
Textor and Lyon officials met with the DNGC on 24 June to try and resolve the matter, but they failed to convince the body the club had sufficiently improved their financial situation to lift the punishment.
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Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider it would be beneficial for Palace if Lyon were “out of the way”.
Oliver Glasner’s side still have to wait to hear Uefa’s take on the situation, with the governing body expected to rule on the matter on Monday (30 June).
Everton
John Textor is selling his Crystal Palace shares (Credit: Getty Images)
Crystal Palace chief facing issue after promises broken
Borson insisted Textor not delivering on his promises is an “issue”.
He told Football Insider: “There are a lot of moving parts and my impression from the press is that nobody really knows what the answer is here.
“We have to wait and see first of all whether Lyon are in or out.
“The Crystal Palace decision will be interesting because you would think that Uefa are making a decision on the basis that Lyon may well be in the Europa League next season because otherwise there wouldn’t be a decision to make because if Lyon weren’t there, then there wouldn’t be any issue.
“I suspect Lyon are unlikely to win their appeal. I don’t know what basis that they would win the appeal. They were warned about relegation in November and apparently did not deal with the issues.
“I think John Texter seems to be unable to deliver some of the things that he promises. That’s an issue. He’s now being sued in respect to one of the previous deals.
“The issues are building up for Textor, but clearly for Palace in some ways it’s beneficial for Lyon to be out of the way by not being in the Europa League.”
Club Stake (%)
Crystal Palace (England) 43
Botafogo (Brazil) 90
Olympique Lyonnais (France) 77.49
RWD Molenbeek (Belgium) 80
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Marc Guehi has ‘concerns’ over Liverpool move
In terms of a potential exit, Football Insider revealed on 26 June Marc Guehi isn’t rushing to make a decision on a move away from Palace amid “concerns” over joining Liverpool.
The 24-year-old centre-back will enter the final 12 months of his contract at Selhurst Park next week.
However, the England international will weigh up the move carefully, with Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk likely to be ahead of him in the pecking order at Anfield.
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