Crystal Palace's Official Statement After Failing to Appear in the Europa League

Muhe - Wednesday, 13 August 2025 | 06:00 PM (WIB)

Crystal Palace's Official Statement After Failing to Appear in the Europa League

90 MIN FOOTBALL - Crystal Palace had just won the Community Shield after defeating Liverpool at Wembley on August 10, 2025. However, amidst the euphoria of their victory, bad news arrived from UEFA.
Crystal Palace was found guilty of violating the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rules regarding multi-club ownership. This resulted in Palace being excluded from participating in the Europa League.
Palace became one of the Premier League's representatives in the competition after winning the FA Cup in May 2025. In the FA Cup final, Palace defeated Manchester City 1-0, earning the right to represent the Premier League in the Europa League next season.
Regarding the CAS decision, Crystal Palace stated that all members of the Palace team had the right to play in the Europa League next season.
"When we won the FA Cup against Manchester City on that fateful day in May, our manager and players earned the right to play Europa League football. We have been denied that opportunity," read the club's official statement.
In fact, Palace stated that there are clubs/players/organizations that have special privileges, while the players and all elements of the Palace team do not have these privileges.
"This growing and unhealthy influence has destroyed the hopes and dreams of Crystal Palace supporters, and does not bode well for aspiring teams across Europe competing for advancement when regulations and sanctions are applied in the most blatant way," the statement read.

Palace's statement continued:

The multi-club structure hides behind the charade of "blind trust" while clubs like ours, with no existing relationships with other clubs, are prevented from playing in the same competitions.
To compound the injustice, clubs that appear to have substantial informal arrangements with each other are also allowed to participate and potentially even play against each other.
While we respect the members of the CAS tribunal, the process is designed to be highly restrictive and, in our case, makes it virtually impossible to obtain a fair trial.
The refusal of all disclosure requests to obtain correspondence between the parties, the refusal to allow witness testimony from those involved, and the general lack of formality and respect for the law meant the decision could not be properly challenged, leading to a predetermined outcome.
UEFA's decision has broader implications for the governance of the sport. The combination of underdeveloped regulations and their uneven implementation means our brilliant fans will be deprived of the opportunity to watch this team compete in the Europa League for the first time in our history.

This should be a turning point for football.

UEFA must fulfill its mandate to pass coherent regulations that are properly communicated and implemented, with a reasonable remediation period to address uncertainty and consistent sanctions, treating all clubs equally with a proper appeals process.
The European Court of Justice has confirmed that similar rulings will be more closely scrutinized by national courts in the future. Only then will justice and due process be afforded to each team.
While we continue to seek legal advice regarding our next steps, we will compete in the Conference League with the same determination and will to win that characterize this extraordinary club.***