Crystal Palace kicked out of Europa League despite historic FA Cup victory

By Henry Moore

Crystal Palace have been dumped out of the Europa League after falling foul of UEFA's multi-club ownership rules.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The FA Cup winners will now play in the Conference League instead, with Nottingham Forest to take their place in the Europa League.

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) determined that American businessman John Textor’s interest in both Palace and Lyon meant only one of the clubs could enter the Europa League, with Lyon’s higher league position edging out Palace.

Crystal Palace are believed to be furious with the decision and look set to take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Read more: England midfielder Jordan Henderson to make Premier League return

UEFA had to postpone a decision in the case pending the outcome of an appeal by Lyon against a decision by French football’s financial regulator to relegate them to the second division.

Lyon had reached a settlement with UEFA agreeing to be excluded from European competition if that relegation was upheld on appeal, but on Wednesday the club learned they had overturned the original decision and held on to their top-flight spot.

At that point, Palace’s prospects of playing in the Europa League appeared to recede considerably.

Textor, who has agreed to sell his shareholding in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, told talkSPORT earlier this week he was “worried” this situation might arise from the moment Palace won the FA Cup.

Asked what he thought as they booked their European place, Textor replied: “Oh s***, is what I thought.

“I was very happy, but I felt the gravity of it. And I was concerned on the same day holding the cup next to the Prince (William).”

Announcing the decision, UEFA said: "The CFCB First Chamber had opened proceedings against Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais due to a potential conflict with the multi-club ownership rule provided for in Article 5 of the UEFA Club Competitions Regulations.

"On 9 July 2025, the appeal instance of the French financial control authority (DNCG) decided not to relegate Olympique Lyonnais to Ligue 2. Consequently, and following an assessment by the CFCB of all the other relevant conditions included in the settlement agreement, Olympique Lyonnais will not be excluded from the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions (see media release of 30 June 2025).

"Consequently, the 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."