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‘Incredible travesty of justice’ – Steve Parish eviscerates UEFA ruling on Crystal Palace Europa League relegation
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish believes relegation to the UEFA Conference League will be a huge injustice in European football. A UEFA ruling has seen Palace demoted to the third tier of European club football amid multi-club ownership issues. Palace will now play in the Conference League after UEFA’s rulingGetty The south London side’s FA Cup win granted Europa League football but co-owner John Textor’s involvement was question. Textor also co-owns French side Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 amid their financial woes. Lyon were initially relegated to Ligue 2 but won their appeal and will remain in the UEFA competition for the 2025/26. This comes at the expense of Palace, with Parish left baffled by the decision that was announced on Friday afternoon. “I don’t understand why the panel have come to the conclusion that they have come to,” he told Sky Sports in a passionate rant. “I think we’ve proved beyond all reasonable doubt that John didn’t have decisive influence over anything to do with the football club and yet still, they’ve come up with this decision which seems incongruous. “I know Mr [Aleksander] Ceferin [UEFA president] has stood on a platform of supporting small clubs, we stood together almost with the Super League [protest] because I wanted to maintain that dream, I didn’t want a competition where clubs like us were locked out of it. “And yet here we are, we qualified rightfully, something that’s incredibly difficult to do. The players, the staff and the manager managed to achieve, and the supporters, something incredible. “We didn’t steal that cup, we scored 13 goals, one against, we beat three teams above us in the Premier League including one of the greatest teams that are playing today, and we don’t get the prize. “It’s such an incredible travesty of justice and something I think every football fan should be worried about, when teams of the same name have played in these competitions. Palace are still in Europe, but now in the third tierGetty Parish revealed his confusion with the rules that led to the decisionAFP or licensors “Either you have these multi-clubs or you ban them, they need to find a way through this. But not withstanding that, we were never part of one. “Everybody knows my position on them, I don’t think that they’re generally the right thing to do, other people disagree with me, that’s fine, but we have nothing to do with them. “So I think that there’s a real crossroads here for UEFA to look at, do they intervene and do the right thing? Which is what I think they should do, which is what I think they want to do. “Or do they let this process play out and see probably one of the greatest injustices that have ever happened in European football?” Nottingham Forest, who wrote a letter to UEFA to express concerns over Palace playing in the Europa League with Textor’s shares at the club, could replace them in the competition. This won’t be confirmed until they discover if Palace appealing the decision though, with Parish still hopeful of it being reversed. Palace earned Europa League qualification by winning the FA CupGetty “I believe, if it’s right, there’s always a way, there’s always a way to overturn an injustice if there’s a will. “Maybe if we weren’t Crystal Palace, maybe if we were a different club, we wouldn’t have even got this far, I don’t know. “I think that there must be a way of getting to the right answer. I know Forest are a fantastic club, they won the league once like us, they had a kind of black swan event. “They got into what was called the European Cup then, they won it and qualified again, and won it again. These things have an incredible effect on teams, you get your one shot. “This is our one shot at the Europa League in 164 years, and I can’t believe that a football club, that story, with that history, very similar to ours, would really want to be a part of taking this away from us, I really don’t. “A lot of Forest fans have reached out to me and said that they don’t want to get access to a tournament this way. “So, I genuinely feel that most right-minded football supporters will think that it’s the right thing for us to be in the competition. “We haven’t, in fact, broken these rules, even if there are these bizarre indicators that indicate that somebody has control over two clubs, even when they don’t. “I think UEFA should really see the light on this one and find a way to get us in.”
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish believes relegation to the UEFA Conference League will be a huge injustice in European football.
A UEFA ruling has seen Palace demoted to the third tier of European club football amid multi-club ownership issues.
The south London side’s FA Cup win granted Europa League football but co-owner John Textor’s involvement was question.
Textor also co-owns French side Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 amid their financial woes.
Lyon were initially relegated to Ligue 2 but won their appeal and will remain in the UEFA competition for the 2025/26.
This comes at the expense of Palace, with Parish left baffled by the decision that was announced on Friday afternoon.
“I don’t understand why the panel have come to the conclusion that they have come to,” he told Sky Sports in a passionate rant.
“I think we’ve proved beyond all reasonable doubt that John didn’t have decisive influence over anything to do with the football club and yet still, they’ve come up with this decision which seems incongruous.
“I know Mr [Aleksander] Ceferin [UEFA president] has stood on a platform of supporting small clubs, we stood together almost with the Super League [protest] because I wanted to maintain that dream, I didn’t want a competition where clubs like us were locked out of it.
“And yet here we are, we qualified rightfully, something that’s incredibly difficult to do. The players, the staff and the manager managed to achieve, and the supporters, something incredible.
“We didn’t steal that cup, we scored 13 goals, one against, we beat three teams above us in the Premier League including one of the greatest teams that are playing today, and we don’t get the prize.
“It’s such an incredible travesty of justice and something I think every football fan should be worried about, when teams of the same name have played in these competitions.
“Either you have these multi-clubs or you ban them, they need to find a way through this. But not withstanding that, we were never part of one.
“Everybody knows my position on them, I don’t think that they’re generally the right thing to do, other people disagree with me, that’s fine, but we have nothing to do with them.
“So I think that there’s a real crossroads here for UEFA to look at, do they intervene and do the right thing? Which is what I think they should do, which is what I think they want to do.
“Or do they let this process play out and see probably one of the greatest injustices that have ever happened in European football?”
Nottingham Forest, who wrote a letter to UEFA to express concerns over Palace playing in the Europa League with Textor’s shares at the club, could replace them in the competition.
This won’t be confirmed until they discover if Palace appealing the decision though, with Parish still hopeful of it being reversed.
“I believe, if it’s right, there’s always a way, there’s always a way to overturn an injustice if there’s a will.
“Maybe if we weren’t Crystal Palace, maybe if we were a different club, we wouldn’t have even got this far, I don’t know.
“I think that there must be a way of getting to the right answer. I know Forest are a fantastic club, they won the league once like us, they had a kind of black swan event.
“They got into what was called the European Cup then, they won it and qualified again, and won it again. These things have an incredible effect on teams, you get your one shot.
“This is our one shot at the Europa League in 164 years, and I can’t believe that a football club, that story, with that history, very similar to ours, would really want to be a part of taking this away from us, I really don’t.
“A lot of Forest fans have reached out to me and said that they don’t want to get access to a tournament this way.
“So, I genuinely feel that most right-minded football supporters will think that it’s the right thing for us to be in the competition.
“We haven’t, in fact, broken these rules, even if there are these bizarre indicators that indicate that somebody has control over two clubs, even when they don’t.
“I think UEFA should really see the light on this one and find a way to get us in.”
