Nottingham Forest could reportedly be elevated to the Europa League
Nottingham Forest could reportedly be elevated to the Europa League
Nottingham Forest are on alert as they could reportedly yet qualify for next season's UEFA Europa League as Premier League rivals Crystal Palace face a potential European ban.
Forest ended the 2024/25 campaign as one of nine English top-flight clubs to have qualified for European competition in the upcoming season.
Having displayed such fine form earlier in the campaign, Nuno Espirito Santo's side may have hoped to have made the Champions League, though picking up eight points from their final 24 available saw them miss out.
The race was so tight in the end that the two-point deficit to fifth-placed Newcastle United only guaranteed Europa Conference League qualification, with Aston Villa taking the sixth-placed Europa League spot.
But having missed out, it has now been claimed that Forest could see themselves elevated into UEFA's secondary club competition because of complex events at Selhurst Park.
As per The Daily Mail, Palace are set to attend an 'emergency summit' with the European governing body as they work out complications around their ownership status. US businessman John Textor owns around 43 percent of the club's shares but is also the majority shareholder at French club Lyon, who qualified for the same competition, and new UEFA regulations prevent two clubs with the same ownership from participating.
Palace co-owner David Blitzer then owns a share of Danish side Brondby, who are in the Conference League.
Clubs who finished higher in their respective leagues take precedence when it comes to multi-club ownership, so with Lyon finishing sixth in France, Brondby third in Denmark and Palace 12th in England - winning the FA Cup to qualify - they are in a tight spot.
Palace's argument is thought to be that there is no relationship between Palace and Lyon in that no facilities, assets or players are shared between the two and that Textor does not make decisions at Selhurst Park, but if this fails Forest could stand to benefit.
It is said that rather than losing their case, Palace could simply run out of time and then be kicked out of Europe.
This happening could mean Forest are moved up whilst, ironically for the Eagles, rivals Brighton could join the Conference League as they finished eighth in the Premier League.
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