Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman John Textor owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“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 CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Crystal Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Crystal Palace, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month. The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Textor-founded Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
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Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Crystal Palace, who won the Community Shield trophy on Sunday after beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
