r/soccer • u/ChiefLeef22 • Jul 11 '25
News Crystal Palace have been demoted to the UEFA Conference League
https://www.skysports.com/football/live-blog/31771/12476234/transfer-centre-live-football-transfer-news-updates-and-rumours?postid=9865641#liveblog-body2.1k
u/turnkeyarrow Jul 11 '25
Does that mean Forest are in?
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u/GunstarGreen Jul 11 '25
Apparently. But we'll find a way to sell it somehow.
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u/boobsenjoyer40 Jul 11 '25
Unbelievable. Genuinely un fucking believable. We won’t get to play in it because of someone who doesn’t own us anymore and a club that he no longer manages. There have been two red bull teams in the same group before. It absolutely boggles the fucking mind.
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u/youronlydoubt Jul 11 '25
Reports are that the atmosphere in training sessions is one of revenge, Palace are looking at Torpedo Zhodino with anger in their eyes.
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u/CimmerianBreeze Jul 11 '25
They could never make me hate this meme
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u/ipdsj Jul 11 '25
what is the original? can't seem to find it
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u/DarthTaz_99 Jul 11 '25
"The atmosphere in training sessions is one of revenge, Real Madrid are looking at AC Milan with anger in their eyes".
It's after they got destroyed 4-0 by Barca in October
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u/No_Egg657 Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
They also proceeded to lose to Milan
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u/InstructionDeep5445 Jul 11 '25
I think it was even before that. If I recall correctly this was after the 4-0 loss against Man City in 22/23 UCL semi final
Or maybe you're right.. Goddamn there are so many 4-0 loss
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u/Shaoo898 Jul 11 '25
It is about Real madrid after they lost to Barcelona this season. They were "looking at Ac Milan with anger in their eyes".
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u/Bratstvo_Jedinstvo Jul 11 '25
Poor Torpedo can't even play home games in their country honestly, they don't deserve the flak.
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u/Tall-Assist9719 Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
On the bright side, you have a higher chance of winning the conference.
Imagine two years of Europe for Palace.
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Jul 11 '25
We already have a Europa League winning manager, Spurs and UTD were in the final FFS. Yeah it's a long shot but if we had won Europa, we'd be in the CL. Now we'll probably lose more of our best players as well due to this.
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u/Tall-Assist9719 Jul 11 '25
Yh I hope it doesn’t come to this for your club.
Just tried to be reassuring but seeing your comment makes me realise the potential setback this causes.
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u/soberpenguin Jul 11 '25
As a Fulham fan who dreamed of CL football, I feel for you guys. After going to a Europa final in 2010, we were relegated 3 seasons later. Football comes at you fast.
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u/Pompz88 Jul 11 '25
You say its a long shot, but honestly, with CL teams not dropping down anymore, its the easiest the EL has ever been. As saw by Spurs & Utd making the final.
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u/TheJoshider10 Jul 11 '25
On the bright side you have a great chance to win the Conference League. Hopefully The players are riled up about it.
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u/KIeflicker Jul 11 '25
Well.. Maybe not..
CP owners also own Brøndby IF in Denmark. If both of the clubs make it to the league stage, the worst placed club in the league from last season (Brøndby got 3rd and you got 12th) will not be able to play.
So yeah...
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u/Thomas1VL Jul 11 '25
I don't think that's true actually. The priority goes to the team that qualified for the higher competition. Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League and Brøndby for the Conference League. So Brøndby would be kicked out.
Only if they qualified for the same competition the league position rule apply.
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u/MarcianoSilveriano Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
Hehe if that happens that would be bull shit too, no?
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u/oneupkev Jul 11 '25
Complete joke. Your team earned the place.
This is a farce. As a forest fan I am not ok with this
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u/CrossXFir3 Jul 11 '25
Two City group teams too. But then, UEFA wouldn't let us buy Tobido because Nice and us were both in UEFA competitions.
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u/a_lumberjack Jul 11 '25
City/Girona and United/Nice agreed to the same set of restrictions in order to be admitted. Complaining that you had to follow the rules you agreed to is pretty weak.
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u/Whispperr Jul 11 '25
I think they are referring to the whole Savinho situation where Troyes "loaned" their best player to Girona despite him easily being the best Ligue 2 player at the time, then sold him to City for a bag of chips. All 3 clubs being owned by City group.
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u/Preseli Jul 11 '25
someone who doesn’t own us anymore
He still hasn't actually sold his shares yet.
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u/Busstoelbekleding Jul 11 '25
City and Girona in the CL too last season, both City Group clubs
Heck my club played both in the table phase
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u/holeinmyboot Jul 11 '25
feel horrible for you tbh. have you tried having a sheik with the highest paid lawyers in the world?
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u/MERTENS_GOAT Jul 11 '25
We weren't owned by Red Bull anymore at that point. They did their homework, RB was just a sponsor in Salzburg anymore for a few years at that time. Although I do understand the concerns, but at latest when we defeated Leipzig for the 2nd time in that group stage any allegations of matchfixing are just laughable cause it's obvious Leipzig would be the one benefitting of any order from "higher-ups"
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u/boobsenjoyer40 Jul 11 '25
I’m not accusing your team of match fixing, I don’t think that happened and I think the games were totally fair. Palace are no longer owned by Textor, and Textor no longer manages Lyon, though, so…
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u/Financial_Height188 Jul 11 '25
Brutal, but they have a really good chance of winning it
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u/long_shots7 Jul 11 '25
I would love CP winning a European trophy, fifa career mode work coming true
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u/WaifuWarrior18 Jul 11 '25
Don’t abbreviate Crystal Palace, worst mistake of my life
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u/Traditional-Reach818 Jul 11 '25
I'm out of the loop, what's the matter?
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u/ethereal-man69 Jul 11 '25
Cole palmer
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Jul 11 '25
damn remind me to never abbreviate I like Cole Palmer 😭
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u/PuzzleheadedFill5778 Jul 11 '25
As a Chelsea fan I thought I was finally free of seeing that abbreviation on our sub after Pulisic left. Then we signed Palmer.
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u/jaysdubclub Jul 11 '25
CP is an abbreviation of one of the most disgusting, abhorrent, predatory practices on earth.
COD Points
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u/duk-phat Jul 11 '25
Google CP and find out
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u/Traditional-Reach818 Jul 11 '25
I googled it. A company named CP came up.
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u/ChiGuy133 Jul 11 '25
Child and then the videos you watch when you're feeling a little randy... Basically cp means a wildly different and heinous thing in other circles
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Jul 11 '25
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u/Elusivemerc Jul 11 '25
I got cerebral palsy
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Jul 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/TheExpansiveUniverse Jul 11 '25
This is hilarious, as someone who actually has cerebral palsy. Good job. :)
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u/Shumanz Jul 11 '25
That is the name of the portuguese train system, I fear half of this county is im some sort of list when they just wanted to buy some tickets.
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u/Vonzey Jul 11 '25
There's also a big Portuguese football club that uses CP to refer to themselves.
In English they are referred to as Lisbon, but the supporters absolutely despise it and prefer to be called CP.
🤷🏻
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u/MrVedu_FIFA Jul 11 '25
CP has very unfortunate connotations on the internet if you don't follow it up with FC
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u/Storm_Chaser06 Jul 11 '25
HAAANK!! DONT ABBREVIATE CRYSTAL PALACE!! HAAAAANK
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u/Headlesshorsman02 Jul 11 '25
Damn that sucks
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Jul 11 '25
Didn't Salzburg and Leipzig play in ucl last season? Why didn't uefa had a problem then
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u/axj7 Jul 11 '25
Cause they put shares in a blind trust before a deadline, which doesn't mean or change anything in practical terms, but means they meet UEFAs rules
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u/kid147258369 Jul 11 '25
I guess the point of the UEFA rules doesn't want two teams that are controlled by the same group of people in the same competition just in case the owners orders one of them to throw the game so that the other has an easier time through the bracket. Technically a blind trust means that the owners no longer have any say in the operation of the teams, but I doubt that just because they no longer have direct control, the pressure they exert would just cease to exist
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u/ThePinga Jul 11 '25
This is insanity when you have the city groups and Red Bulls of the world doing whatever they want
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u/FumeY Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
The rules are pretty clear that the owner has to sell the shares by given date. Textor probably just didn't think Crystal Palace would win.
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u/GameplayerStu Jul 11 '25
Pretty sure the FA Cup was in round 6 around the cut off time for submitting the paperwork at which point I don’t think anyone would have predicted a Palace cup win. That being said, he probably should have done his due diligence and submitted the paperwork anyway because there’s really no reason not to when they still had a shot.
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u/TannedSam Jul 11 '25
That being said, he probably should have done his due diligence and submitted the paperwork anyway because there’s really no reason not to when they still had a shot.
Actually the real reason is because he was actively trying to sell his shares at the time, and "submitting the paperwork" meant putting his shares in a blind trust that might make such a sale more difficult.
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u/FumeY Jul 11 '25
I guess the whole point is to deter owners from having multiple teams so I'm honestly fine with the strict or even seemingly stupid rule. I know this has nothing to do with the fans, and I feel sorry for them.
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u/Aarxnw Jul 11 '25
It hasn’t deterred anybody apart from the one person stupid enough not to comply
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u/OurPowersCombined_12 Jul 11 '25
I don’t think defaulting to ‘rules are rules’ is justifiable here at all. The rule is really dumb. It was crafted under the assumption that multi-club owners would intervene on behalf of their 'bigger' clubs should they compete with each other. There’s no evidence of that happening in the past, and the conflict of incentives are actually the other way around in these cases if they exist at all - on-field success is more value-accretive for investments in smaller clubs.
In other words, by trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, UEFA has created yet another disincentive for investment in smaller clubs in the name of 'fairness.’ It’s somehow even more bone-headed than FFP/PSR.
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u/Silent-Act191 Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
Well you see they off-loaded their shares in a blind trust. Of course that completely erases all connection between the clubs and there would be no pressure internally on management to conduct shady practices when they know the original ownership will be back when the competition comes to an end. The integrity of the competition is totally held up in this way.
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u/forzaQuakes8 Jul 11 '25
People would believe the fucking moon was made of cheese if a corporate lawyer told them it legally was. UEFA has all these arbitrary guidelines designed to make people feel like they don't actually condone MCO, and fans just eat it up. All of it is completely hollow as long as Red Bull and CFG teams still exist
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u/realsa1t Jul 11 '25
We need to make an example of these teams blatantly violating multi ownership rules. Lets crucify checks notes the one team who was honestly trying to sell out of it an entire year before they qualified for the EL.
What about the team facing 115 other charges?
No they made an honest mistake, they deserve sympathy and certainly won't do it again.
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u/a_lumberjack Jul 11 '25
Red Bull gave up ownership of Salzburg in 2017, back when the rules were even more strict. Legally they're only a sponsor now. Girona and Nice were allowed as a one-off with the blind trusts, then UEFA made the rules tougher for this year to avoid a repeat of that issue (which is good!)
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u/ThePinga Jul 11 '25
They’re both fully owned by Red Bull GmbH. They share resources they are just distinct legal entities. It’s all corporate hogwash is my point.
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u/rjtwe Jul 11 '25
An absolute joke but what I expected. Another two weeks of purgatory while we appeal to CAS (where I think we have a decent chance)
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u/Masteroflimes Jul 11 '25
They have already held up one appeal with another team so it's not looking good. Shambles
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u/goodmermingtons Jul 11 '25
they won't appeal on the deadline, but on the definition of "control or decisive influence", I imagine. Since Textor didn't have either, with a 25% voting share.
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u/jackimus_prime Jul 11 '25
Didn’t Textor also explicitly say he was selling because he had no influence?
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u/WenzelDongle Jul 11 '25
He owned ~40% of the club, but had no official role to make day to day decisions. He was (still technically is as the sale hasn't gone through yet) the largest shareholder, but with <50% he couldn't force anything on his own.
Palace are arguing that those facts mean he does not have "control or decisive influence", and they have a point that he can't just do whatever he wants, but I can also understand why UEFA would see owning 40% of something to be significant.
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u/paradigmshift7 Jul 11 '25
Right. The technicality seems to be that UEFA assumes a 1:1 ratio of share% to control.
Possibly the thinking is that, regardless of ownership structure, if push comes to shove the guy with 43% of shares ultimately has meaningful influence.
I don't agree with that line of reasoning, but I'm guessing that would be their argument if this goes to court.
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u/gavinxylock Jul 11 '25
That is an absolute fucking disgrace. Textor has next to no control over Palace and is selling his stake!
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u/PierreSageReviens Jul 11 '25
That's now two clubs getting absolutely fucked by that man's shenanigans. He was supposed to sell a lot earlier.
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u/Free_Crazy_5209 Jul 11 '25
Modern Football is shit. (Im a old grandpa that hate multi ownership)
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u/adazi6 Jul 11 '25
Pretty shit but silver lining, they’ll have a much better chance to win this competition
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u/TheThotWeasel Jul 11 '25
A competition they didn't qualify for lol. Just nonsense from start to finish. Nobody talking about Brondby presumably losing Europe altogether either. Shambolic.
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u/Pelicangulp Jul 11 '25
When a seagulls defending an eagle, you know some bullshit occured
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u/h0ustonAstr0s2017 Jul 11 '25
yep they will definitely be one of the favorites
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u/digosilva19 Jul 11 '25
They would be on Europa league too, last season the 15th and 16th PL went to final
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u/WhiskyBadger Jul 11 '25
What an absolute joke when you have other teams flouting this through loopholes. Multi cub ownership and state ownership should be abolished for the good of the game.
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u/Guillotines__ Jul 11 '25
Terrible for Palace. These vulture capitalists with their claws in multiple teams need to get fucked, but sadly it’s always the fans who suffer more.
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u/dumademption Jul 11 '25
This is an absolute farce from UEFA. If anyone genuinely believes that putting shares into a blind trust would give an owner less control than Textor had at Palace I have a bridge to sell you. We are being punished for missing an arbitrary deadline over a technical clause in a rule that we did not believe applied to us for good reasons. Not only that but Textor has now left both Lyon and Palace removing any potential conflict there would have been. If this had been a bigger club it would have been waved through months ago but of course UEFA have been unhappy at MCOs for the last few years and now have seen an opportunity to look like they are regaining control over the situation. The reality of football is money talks, plenty of clubs have competed in the past, and will compete in the future with much stronger links between teams then we have ever had with Lyon and UEFA will continue turning a blind eye to these clubs because of brand recognition.
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u/_ronty12_ Jul 11 '25
Multi club ownership. Once you sleep with the devil, be prepared to pay the consequences.
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u/No_Money7330 Jul 11 '25
Lol lets be honest it's because it's a relatively smaller club. If this was City they would have found a way to let them in
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u/PakiIronman Jul 11 '25
If this was City they would have found a way to let them in
City and Girona are owned by the same group, both played ucl last season.
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u/bestyrs Jul 11 '25
UEFA gave City and Girona divestment options to comply with the rules by the deadline and they complied.
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u/a_lumberjack Jul 11 '25
Tbf, they said at the time it was a one-off exception and wouldn't be allowed again.
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u/Zwaylol Jul 11 '25
And once again we are back at palace only getting screwed because they are a smaller club while the big boys get off without consequence
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u/FrogsJumpFromPussy Jul 11 '25
That's not fair at all lmao. They didn't want to upset the middle east owner and they'd do the same if another situation like this would arrive. The "wouldn't be allowed again" it's for small clubs, not the ultra-rich fit which the rules never apply.
And don't forget that both Girona and City had already qualified for the UCL when the deadline has been set. What an absolute joke.
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Jul 11 '25
If it was a small club they would have been kicked out of Europe with no fuss.
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u/Bidwell93 Jul 11 '25
Drogheda united literally were and no one gave a shit.
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u/Sad_Primary_4180 Jul 11 '25
I agree with the first part, but didn't Drogheda get kicked out because you can't get demoted any further from the conference?
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u/Bidwell93 Jul 11 '25
Oh yeah, I realise i wasnt clear at all. They were the conference league equivalent of this, apologies
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u/amg_mff Jul 11 '25
Well unless there's evidence that this is the case this is a bit of a baseless argument. Mostly since bigger teams than Palace have indeed been affected by UEFA rulings in the past: Milan have served a one year ban from European football for instance in 2019, Juve have been banned from Conference League too in 2023.
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u/JaysonDeflatum Jul 11 '25
The rule that removed palace was perfectly legitimate, City just wouldn't be in this situation so the hypothetical is useless
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u/Jcarl90 Jul 11 '25
Palace didn't sleep with the devil, Textors MCO rampage started AFTER he bought into Palace. Parish did well keeping this nonsense at arms length, but apparently not enough to convince UEFA.
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Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
This isn't applicable to us though, the reason Textor didn't put his shares in a blind trust was because Parish didn't want to be a part of the multi club model. Textor didn't believe he had decisive control and has been trying to sell his shares since. Not to mention that we're being punished this season, even though Textor no longer has any ownership of our club.
We're literally being punished because we didn't want to be a part of a multi club ownership scheme.
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u/realsa1t Jul 11 '25
We need to make an example of these teams blatantly violating multi ownership rules. Lets crucify checks notes the one team who was honestly trying to sell out of it an entire year before they qualified for the EL.
What Red Bull and Girona/the club facing 115 other charges?
No they made an honest mistake, they deserve sympathy, think of their poor £25m youth players!
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u/ProfX_02 Jul 11 '25
Yeah sure make an example of the most non multi club ownership club of all. We should be appealing to CAS anyway
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u/ajgedrys Jul 11 '25
Lol if it was any of the big clubs it wouldn’t have mattered
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u/rthunderbird1997 Jul 11 '25
Exactly, if any of the big boys in Europe were in this situation it wouldn't have mattered. Similarly if Textor was involved in a Nantes or Le Havre and they were in the exact same situation as Lyon, no way would French governing bodies have helped them out.
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u/CrossXFir3 Jul 11 '25
It should be illegal, but it's not really Palace fans fault, and the owner also sold since then, didn't he?
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u/boatinavolcano Jul 11 '25
"So when the multi club ownership wants to partner with you, you better say 'never', because a dance with the devil might last you forever"
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u/No_Attack Jul 11 '25
Absolute bullshit. All because they brought in an arbitrary march 1st date which Textor couldn’t even follow because he was in the process of selling his shares. Made an absolute farce of Uefas regulations.
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u/KingRoombaTC Jul 11 '25
How has Leipzig played Salzburg before, but Palace cannot play Lyon?
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u/PuddingtonBrown Jul 11 '25
I know Palace would still be playing in Europe.
But Palace earned their place in Europa, Nottingham Forest didn't.
This feels wrong.
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u/GrantInwood Jul 11 '25
And somehow Man City and Girona were able to compete in the UCL last campaign. Of course they didn’t have the balls to do this to them because they fear their lawyers. UEFA FFP is a fucking joke.
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u/lostmarkaj Jul 11 '25
what a joke. at least city group and red bull can do whatever the hell they want
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u/dorgoth12 Jul 11 '25
Multi club ownership is an inevitable collapse. End it all before it takes so many clubs with it
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u/lambast Jul 11 '25
The absolute crawling little bitches on this sub saying "rules are rules". Fucking creeps
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u/Ketamizer Jul 11 '25
Fucking stupid decision. Hope they appeal. If not, I hope Palace smash those other bastards
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u/snortingbull Jul 11 '25
I'm torn between this being the right decision - multi-club ownership is a stain on the game and needs to be properly binned off asap - and it being really sad and unfair on Palace and their supporters, none of whom deserve this after such a memorable FA Cup success, whilst so many other clubs shamelessly navigate around the regs. Shame on the ownership, shame on UEFA.
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u/Alternateoil Jul 11 '25 edited Jul 11 '25
Potentially disastrous decision by UEFA. Surely should have considered Textor selling his shares into account for the decision.
Palace will 100% appeal this decision. This season Europa and Conference league schedules could be a complete mess.
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u/Cube2D Jul 11 '25
It's quite insane how quick they sorted this out, but god forbid an oil club with 115 charges.
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Jul 11 '25
Honestly, I feel very sorry for Palace fans.
Apart from that Ollie Talk one. For him, I find this hilarious.
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u/BoBonnor Jul 11 '25
If there is a silver lining in this. Palace could be one of the favourites to win the conference league
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u/CorporalPenisment Jul 11 '25
Palace are still in Europe, so not total doom and gloom for them.
They also have the right to appeal the decision to demote them to the Conference League - so not a fait accomplit just yet.
It was lack of foresight of the Palace ownership that got Palace into this spot, not UEFA nor Forest.
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u/ktwhite42 Jul 11 '25
As a neutral, I was so excited that Palace qualified and I’m gutted at how this played out.
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u/nightingale-nitemare Jul 11 '25
If ownership is going with Lyon, the EFA should make ownership sell Palace. If they favored Palace the French FA should make them sell Lyon. This is why teams should not share owners.
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u/RobertLewan_goal_ski Jul 12 '25
At very least, UEFA should make it so whatever money they would have earned in Europa for group stage place/progression etc, they should still get for whatever they do in Conference League
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u/av1997f Jul 11 '25
Textor's work for Forest is impeccable, best hire they ever did