The London club qualified for the tournament after winning the FA Cup but on Monday (11.08.25), the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) upheld UEFA's decision to demote them to the Conference League because of rules over multi-club ownership.

John Textor held shares in both Crystal Palace and fellow Europa League qualifiers Lyon, but he has since sold his 43% stake to another US businessman, Woody Johnson.

At a hearing on Friday (08.08.25), a Palace delegation led by chair Steve Parish insisted the businessman had never held a decisive influence and was no longer at the club.

They are also believed to have presented evidence that only members of the European Club Association (ECA) were informed that a 1 March deadline set by UEFA to allow clubs to be placed into a blind trust to comply with multi-club regulations could be extended until 31 May. That enabled Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, to place the British club into a blind trust at the end of April.

CAS said in Monday's announcement: “After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a Board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of Uefa’s assessment date.

"The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL. The panel considered that the Uefa regulations are clear and do not provide flexibility to clubs that are non-compliant on the assessment date, as CPFC claimed.”

Forest are now expected to be promoted to the Europa League.