Alongside the drama of Morgan Gibbs-White’s move to Tottenham, Nottingham Forest have been waiting to find out what UEFA competition they’ll be lining up in this season.
After finishing seventh in the 24/25 Premier League season, Forest qualified for the UEFA Conference League, setting up the club’s first venture into Europe in 30 years.
The Forest squad were aiming to go far in the Conference League to replicate English clubs’ recent success in the competition, but Crystal Palace’s multi-club ownership issues meant that Forest could still have ended up playing Europa League football instead.
A decision from UEFA on Forest and Palace’s fate was imminent after Lyon’s place in the Europa League was confirmed, suggesting that Palace would be demoted given their shared ownership with the French side.
Europa League Trophy
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UEFA statement confirms Nottingham Forest’s Europa League status
The now former owner John Textor believed Palace would remain in the Europa League, but the news today has confirmed that Nuno Espírito Santo will be taking his Forest squad into the Europa League over The Eagles.
A lengthy UEFA statement said: “CFCB First Chamber pursued the assessment of the documentation submitted by Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace and concluded that the clubs breached, as at 1 March 2025, the multi-club ownership criteria foreseen in Art 5.01 of the UEFA Club Competition Regulations.
🚨 OFFICIAL: UEFA announce Crystal Palace won’t be playing in the Europa League next season.
Palace to play in the Conference League per UEFA rules. pic.twitter.com/kuiGpiQVGq
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 11, 2025
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“For this reason, and in accordance with the provisions set in Art. 5.02, 5.03 and 5.04 of the UEFA Club Competitions Regulations, the CFCB First Chamber decided to accept Olympique Lyonnais’ admission to the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League and to reject Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League and to accept Crystal Palace’s admission to the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League.”
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Palace have the right to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but as it stands, Forest have qualified for the league phase of the 25/26 Europa League.
Given that Marinakis also owns multiple football clubs, UEFA’s concerns with multi-club ownership could’ve impacted the Reds, but the Forest owner thought ahead when Champions League qualification was still on the cards.
Evangelos Marinakis planned ahead to avoid UEFA multi-club issue
After Olympiacos won the Greek Super League, Marinakis’ home club qualified for the Champions League, around the time when the Forest squad were holding on to a top-five spot in the Premier League.
If the Reds had qualified for the top European competition, UEFA would’ve had the very same questions for Marinakis as they had for Textor, so the Greek businessman acted fast.
Marinakis suspended his involvement in Forest and placed his control in the hands of a blind trust, removing any concerns over breaching UEFA’s rules, while retaining the option to retake control of the club if Forest didn’t make the Champions League.
This, of course, was the case and Marinakis was able to retake his spot at the City Ground, but the mechanism will be one to keep in mind for future seasons.