BREAKING NEWS: Crystal Palace Demoted from Europa League Amid Ownership Controversy — Nottingham Forest Take Their Place

BREAKING NEWS: Crystal Palace Demoted from Europa League Amid Ownership Controversy — Nottingham Forest Take Their Place

In a stunning and highly controversial decision, UEFA has officially demoted Crystal Palace from the 2025/26 Europa League due to issues surrounding multi-club ownership rules. Nottingham Forest have been awarded their spot in the competition — a move that has triggered outrage among Palace supporters and sparked a new debate on the fairness and consistency of UEFA’s enforcement.

The controversy centers around John Textor, the American businessman who holds a significant controlling interest in Eagle Football Holdings — an entity connected to multiple clubs across Europe, including Lyon, Botafogo, and a minority stake in Crystal Palace. Despite Textor never being directly involved in the daily management of Palace and only ever being spotted in the director’s box during matches, UEFA found his stake in breach of its multi-club ownership regulations.

The rules are designed to prevent two clubs under the same effective control from participating in the same European competition, avoiding conflicts of interest. Textor reportedly took action to sell the problematic shares before the competition began, but UEFA has confirmed that the sale occurred too late to impact their decision.

As a result, Crystal Palace — who finished strongly in the Premier League to earn their Europa League berth — have been stripped of their spot. Their place has been handed to Nottingham Forest, who finished lower in the table but now find themselves heading into European football for the first time in over two decades.

Ironically, Forest’s own ownership situation has raised just as many eyebrows. The club is owned by Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek giants Olympiacos and has been linked to other clubs. In order to comply with UEFA’s multi-club rules, Marinakis moved his ownership stake into what’s known as a “blind trust” earlier this year — a legal arrangement meant to separate him from club decisions.

However, questions about the true independence of this blind trust emerged in May, when Marinakis was seen confronting Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo directly on the pitch after a Premier League game. Images of the incident — showing Marinakis gesturing and engaging in what appeared to be a heated exchange — seem to undermine the notion that he holds no day-to-day influence at the club.

Palace fans have voiced their fury at what they see as a double standard. While their club is punished for an ownership issue that was actively being resolved, Forest, whose owner appears to remain deeply involved, are rewarded with European qualification.

“This is a scandal,” one Palace fan wrote on social media. “We earned it on the pitch. Forest are going to Europe because of legal smoke and mirrors.”

UEFA, for its part, has stood by its decision, insisting that regulatory compliance had to be achieved by a specific deadline and that Palace fell short.

Nevertheless, this case is likely to fuel ongoing discussions about UEFA’s multi-club ownership regulations — and whether the current rules are equipped to handle the growing complexity of modern football ownership structures.