What Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said about Nottingham Forest after Europa League call
by Jordan Blackwell · NottinghamshireLiveCrystal Palace chairman Steve Parish “can’t believe” that Nottingham Forest want to be a part of “taking away” the Eagles’ spot in the Europa League.
FA Cup winners Palace have been demoted to the Europa Conference League over Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules, with Lyon’s majority owner John Textor holding a stake at Selhurst Park before his recent sale.
It looks likely that Forest will benefit, moving up from the Conference League into the Europa League, although there are reports that Palace could yet appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the decision.
It has previously been reported that Forest sent a letter to Uefa to express concern over Palace’s eligibility for the Europa League.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis placed his shares into a blind trust prior to the March 1 deadline to avoid any clash with his other club Olympiacos and ensure they were abiding by the rules. Palace did not make changes before the deadline.
Parish has revealed that Reds supporters have reached out to him over the debacle.
“I know Forest are a fantastic club,” Parish told Sky Sports. “They have a black swan event that got them into the European Cup. They won it. That enabled them to qualify again and win it again. These things have an incredible effect on football teams.
“You get your one shot. This is our one shot at the Europa League in 164 years. I can’t believe that a football club with that story, with that history, very similar to ours, would really want to be a part of taking this away from us.
“A lot of Forest fans have reached out to me and said they don’t want to get access to the tournament this way.
“I genuinely feel most right-minded football supporters would think that the right thing is for us to be in the competition.”
Parish did not hide his upset at Uefa’s decision, calling it one of the “greatest injustices” in the game, with the call made on a “ridiculous technicality”.
“We're devastated,” he said. “It's a bad day for football. It's a terrible injustice. I do believe nobody wants to see this. I don't think Uefa wants to see this.
“We've been locked out of a European competition on the most ridiculous technicality. Supporters of all clubs should be devastated for us. It’s one of the greatest injustices in the history of European football.”