Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest discover fate after Europa League appeal decision

American businessman and majority owner of Lyon John Textor, who has since sold his 43 per cent stake in Palace, failed to put his shares in a blind trust before the 1st March deadline, which has cost the Eagles their place in the Europa League, as the French club also qualified for the competition and finished higher in Ligue 1 (6th) than Oliver Glasner's side did in the Premier League (12th).

The FA Cup winners launched an appeal against UEFA, Lyon, and Nottingham Forest in July but the CAS announced today that it had been dismissed.

The ruling states: "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."

The Eagles beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Community Shield on Sunday, but their celebrations have been cut short by today's decision and they must now prepare for the Conference League play-offs later this month, where they face either Norwegian Eliteserien side Fredrikstad or Danish Superliga outfit Midtjylland.

Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last term and reported Palace to UEFA, will replace Oliver Glasner's side in the Europa League and be part of the draw for the League Phase at the end of the month.

Forest avoided being penalised by the same multi-club ownership rules after Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Olympiakos, took action to dilute his control of the Reds in April.

On Tuesday, Crystal Palace published a statement in response to the decision and outlined their frustration.

It reads: "At a time when we should be celebrating our victory in the Community Shield at Wembley, the decision by UEFA and followed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless.

"When we won the FA Cup against Manchester City on that momentous day in May, our manager and players earned the right to play Europa League football.

"We have been denied that opportunity.

"It appears that certain clubs, organisations and individuals have a unique privilege and power.

"This growing and unhealthy influence has shattered the hopes and dreams of Crystal Palace supporters, and does not bode well for aspirational teams all over Europe competing to progress when rules and sanctions are unevenly applied in the most flagrant way.

"Multi-club structures hide behind the charade of a “blind trust” while clubs such as ours, who have no connection to another club whatsoever, are prevented from playing in the same competition.

"To compound the injustice, clubs that appear to have huge informal arrangements with each other are also allowed to participate and even possibly play against each other.

"While we respect the CAS tribunal members, the process is designed to severely restrict and, in our case, make it almost impossible to receive a fair hearing.

"The denial of all disclosure requests to obtain correspondence between the relevant parties, the refusal to allow witness testimony from those involved, and the general lack of formality and respect for law mean decisions cannot be properly challenged, leading to pre-determined outcomes.

"UEFA’s decision has wider implications for the governance of the sport. A combination of poorly conceived regulations and their unequal application means our brilliant fans will be deprived of the chance to watch this team compete in the Europa League for the first time in our history.

"This should be a turning point for football.

"UEFA must fulfil its mandate to pass coherent rules which are properly communicated and applied, with reasonable cure periods to resolve uncertainty and consistent sanctions, treating all clubs equally with a proper appeal process.

"The European Court of Justice has made it clear that rulings similar to this will be under greater scrutiny from national courts in future. Only then will fairness and due process be granted to every team.

"Although we continue to take legal advice on the next steps, we will compete in the Conference League with the same determination and will to win that characterises this incredible club."

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