Crystal Palace had their European dream checked by UEFA when the governing body ruled they would not be able to compete in the 2025/26 Europa League.
The FA Cup winners have been demoted to the Conference League after falling foul of rules relating to multi-club ownership.
Nottingham Forest are the main beneficiaries, levelling up from the Conference League to the Europa at Palace's expense.
"We're devastated for, most importantly, the supporters. I think the supporters of all clubs should be devastated for us because this is the dream," Palace chairman Steve Parish told Sky Sports.
"I'm devastated for the players, for the fans, for the staff. I think it's a bad day for football. I think most football fans, right-minded football fans, will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club."
Palace took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but their appeal was unsuccessful. It's a bitter pill to swallow for the club, who do not even think UEFA wanted to take this course of action in the first place. So, why have they?
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Why can't Crystal Palace play in Europa League?
Crystal Palace cannot play in the 2025/26 Europa League due to UEFA rules relating to multi-club ownership. Instead, they will play in the Conference League.
The crux of the matter is John Textor's 43% stake in Palace through his Eagle Football Holdings company. Textor also has Belgian club Molenbeek and Copa Libertadores winners Botafogo under the Eagles umbrella, and in December 2022 he bought a controlling stake in Ligue 1 club Lyon.
Under UEFA rules, clubs from the same ownership group cannot play in the same competition. Lyon's sixth-place finish in Ligue 1 last term means they took precedence over Palace for the Europa League place because they ranked higher in their domestic league. Oliver Glasner's side came 12th in the Premier League.
Palace's argument against this is that Textor does not own a controlling stake at Selhurst Park and, even though he owns 43% of the club, this only translates to 25% of the voting rights alongside fellow American businessmen Josh Harris and David Blitzer and Parish.
There is also the element that Textor has since agreed to sell his shareholding to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson. These aspects of mitigation did not pass muster with UEFA's club financial control body (CFCB).
Parish confirmed that Palace would take their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Why did CAS rule against Crystal Palace?
Essentially, CAS decided that there were not sufficient grounds to overturn UEFA's original decision.
Parish attended a hearing in front of three CAS judges on August 8, which reportedly lasted for 10 hours. This took place just two days before his team won the Community Shield on penalties against Liverpool.
In its ruling, CAS said: "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."
Why were Man City and Girona both allowed in the Champions League?
There are ways for clubs within multi-club models to compete in the same UEFA competitions. In fact, it happened during last season's Champions League when Manchester City and City Football Group (CFG) club Girona each took part.
To make this happen, the CFG took up UEFA's option to place its holdings in Girona into a blind trust, effective from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, overseen by a UEFA-approved independent panel.
Palace missed the March 1 deadline to alter their ownership structure and bring it into compliance with UEFA. Parish complained that emails on the matter were sent to his club's general enquiries address and went unnoticed.
"We're not in UEFA's orbit," he told The Athletic. "There isn't a group that represents clubs like us at UEFA. In 15 years [in charge of Palace], I've never had an email from UEFA, not one.
"They sent a notification that this rule change was coming to [email protected], and nobody saw it, so they kept sending it and sending it again. This was in January."
Were Lyon relegated from Ligue 1?
Palace looked to have earned a reprieve when Lyon were relegated from Ligue 1 due to financial mismanagement. Textor has been the subject of fan protests in France.
This would have meant Lyon did not have a license to compete in UEFA competitions, but they were reinstated into Ligue 1 on appeal.
Are Nottingham Forest in the Europa League?
Due to Palace's demotion to the Conference League, their spot in the Europa League has been taken by Nottingham Forest. They finished seventh in the Premier League last season and had been set to play in the Conference League.
According to BBC Sport, Forest expressed concerns over Palace's eligibility to take part in the Europa League due to their ownership. Evangelos Marinakis, who owns Forest, chose to put his shares into a blind trust at a time when it looked as though both the English club and Olympiacos, another that he owns, would both qualify for the Champions League.