Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish hits back at UEFA after being kicked out of Europa League

Furious Crystal Palace will appeal UEFA’s decision to kick them out of the Europa League after they fell foul of multi-club ownership rules. But Nottingham Forest are primed to take the FA Cup winners’ spot as Palace find themselves demoted to the Conference League.

UEFA said they have decided to “reject Palace’s admission” because American shareholder John Textor is also the majority owner of Lyon, the French side also qualified for the Europa League.

And the Eagles last night said an appeal will be lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who will expedite a hearing since the competition’s qualifying rounds have already started.

Chairman Steve Parish described the decision as “a bad day of football.” He added: “We are obviously devastated, most importantly for the supporters, supporters of all clubs should be devastated for it.

“This means something, you win a cup for the first time in your history and it's like winning the lottery and going to the counter and not getting the prize.

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“It is a bad day for football. Most right-minded football fans will see what a terrible injustice this is for the football club and one that I hope someone can remedy because I do believe that nobody in football wants to see this, I don't think UEFA want to see it.

“Clubs that rightly qualify being locked out on the most ridiculous technicality that you could imagine.”

Palace's demotion had been expected since Wednesday, when Lyon succeeded in their appeal against relegation from Ligue 1 for financial reasons. To facilitate that decision being overturned Textor has stepped aside from operational control at the club.

But had their relegation been upheld, they would have been excluded from Europe to pave the way for Palace’s inclusion. Lyon have taken priority because UEFA rules prioritise league finishing positions over domestic Cup wins.

Textor, who owns 43 per cent of Palace, continues to insist that he has never held direct influence at Selhurst Park.

However the key issue for UEFA was his failure to place his stake in Palace into a blind trust by a March 1 deadline. At the time Palace were yet to defeat Millwall in the FA Cup fifth round.

“Why should I put my interest in a trust back before March when the rule says you only have to do it if you have decisive influence? I don’t,” he told TalkSport on Thursday.

“Parish is making decisions. He’s bringing in players. He involves us, but he doesn’t really listen to us. He does, but a suggestion from time to time is not the same as decisive influence.”

Confirmation of Forest’s promotion may not arrive until any appeals process reaches its conclusion.

However UEFA's rule 4.10 states: "A club that is not admitted to the competition is replaced by the next-best-placed club in the top domestic championship of the same association, provided the new club fulfils the admission criteria."

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