Overview

• The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Palace’s expedited appeal and confirmed they will compete in the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League after breaching multi-club ownership rules.
• The three-arbitrator panel held a closed hearing in Lausanne on August 8 and issued its decision roughly two and a half weeks after Palace filed its appeal on July 21.
• CAS concluded that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, exercised decisive influence over Crystal Palace and Olympique Lyonnais at the key compliance date, regardless of his late July sale of Palace stock to Woody Johnson.
• Nottingham Forest, who initially qualified for the Conference League and reported Palace’s ownership ties, will occupy Palace’s Europa League spot.
• Palace now face Conference League play-off matches on August 21 and 28 and could forfeit up to £20 million in European revenue, shaping their transfer and season preparations.