Crystal Palace have released a statement blasting UEFA’s multi-club regulations, hitting out at the decision to demote them from this coming season’s Europa League.
Palace earned a spot in Europe's second-level club competition after winning last season’s FA Cup, but were demoted to the Conference League after Lyon, who shared a mutual part-owner in John Textor, also qualified for the competition.
Mutli-club rules state two teams cannot compete in the same competition if they share a mutual figure of influence, and an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport saw Palace unsuccessfully argue that Textor, who has now departed the club, had no significant say in the Eagles’ operations.
Clubs have navigated these regulations before. Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig have both battled in the Champions League, while City Football Group made sufficient changes to their structures to achieve clearance for both Manchester City and Girona to compete together.
Palace, who missed a series of emails from UEFA warning them of the deadline to make the required changes, have now released a scathing statement arguing certain clubs boast “a unique privilege and power.”
“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,” Palace wrote.
“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.”
Palace went on to call for a “turning point for football” as they challenged UEFA to address the regulations on multi-club ownership.
“UEFA’s decision has wider implications for the governance of the sport,” the Community Shield winners continued. “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.
“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.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Crystal Palace Lash Out at UEFA Over Europa League Axe.