UNDERSTANDABLY, Crystal Palace and their fans are extremely unhappy at the moment, but the decision to demote the club from the UEFA Europa League to the UEFA Conference League is not the greatest injustice in football in living memory. Palace are smarting at the moment and the arguments will rage on, but March 1 was a deadline missed and there seems no way for an exception to the rule.
Why, the Selhurst regular might ask? Quite simply, in the current football environment, multi-club models and owners with portfolios of shares are commonplace and they are likely to grow in number. Palace may no longer be in the hands of a businessman who also has a stake in Lyon, but they were and they may find themselves in a similar situation again in the future. Multi-club ownership has its advantages, but it can also create conflicts of interest.
The Palace/Lyon case will undoubtedly be the catalyst for a close examination of owners who have multiple stakes across a number of countries. Maybe Palace didn’t expect to qualify for Europe by winning the FA Cup or did nobody think to check whether John Textor’s ownership was in danger of creating a conflict? By the time Palace won the FA Cup, the March 1 deadline had long passed, but surely, the club should have been aware of where it stood long before then? Nottingham Forest, who, ironically, will replace Palace in the Europa League, were protected from any breach of the rules months before because owner Evangelos Marinakis placed his shares in the club in a so-called blind trust to ensure Forest would be able to join Marinakis’s other club, Olympiacos, in the Champions League should they qualify. Ultimately, it was academic as Forest fell away from the top five, but the larger than life Greek owner had the foresight to prepare the club for that possibility. Textor has revealed that he feared Palace were in for difficult discussions when he was celebrating with Steve Parish at Wembley.
Qualifying for Europe means so much to Palace, because they have never played in one of the major competitions, even though they participated in the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1971 and 1973 and took party in the TotoCup in 1998.
Textor did offload his 45% stake in Palace to US businessman Woody Johnson for £ 190 million, but he was at odds with other board members because he wanted more of a say at Selhurst Park. “I don’t have decisive influence”, he claimed, but there were also media stories about Textor planning a complete takeover of the club. Palace may have assumed they would not have a problem given Lyon had been notified that their financial difficulties would result in a technical relegation to Ligue 2. They appealed and won, so Palace became vulnerable again. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 and qualified for the Europa League, while Palace ended in 12th place in the Premier League and won the FA Cup. Lyon, where Textor has a 77% stake, had the advantage and so Palace lost their place in the Europa as UEFA regarded them as part of a multi-club structure alongside Lyon. If Textor had sold his shares earlier, they would have been allowed to remain in the competition instead of being shifted to the Conference League.
It’s not just the difference in cash – Chelsea received £ 15 million for winning the Conference League in 2024-25 while Tottenham picked up £ 21 million for securing the Europa League – but it is possible that Palace could lose some players because they are not taking part in the Europa. Also, the rewards for winning the Europa include a place in the ultra-lucrative Champions League in 2026-27, while success in the Conference League comes with a ticket to the Europa. In the previous four years, Chelsea, Olympiacos, West Ham United and Roma have won the competition.
Palace will be sore for a while, but to expect UEFA to reverse their decision may be a forlorn hope. As far as the governing body are concerned, Palace didn’t meet the deadline, but comments about Textor’s lack of influence will hold little water. The fact is, he _could_have had a significant influence.
Putting this to one side, clubs who have shareholders will stakes in other football institutions have to protect themselves with greater vigilance, contingency plans and a focus on risk management. Palace worked hard to win the FA Cup, their first major trophy, but some of the icing on the cake has melted owing to technical issues. It really is a sign of the times.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)