Crystal Palace fans stage protest against UEFA’s decision to demote the club to the Conference League due to multi-club ownership rules, despite winning the FA Cup.
Crystal Palace supporters took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against UEFA’s decision to demote the club to the Conference League. Hundreds of fans marched to Selhurst Park, carrying banners and chanting against the European football governing body.
This move comes after Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup in May, their first major trophy.
The demotion is due to a breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
American businessman John Textor owns a stake in Crystal Palace and is the majority owner of French club Lyon, which has also qualified for the Europa League. UEFA’s rules prohibit clubs with common ownership from competing in the same European competition. Palace missed the deadline to show proof of restructuring their ownership, leading to this decision.
The fans are furious, feeling that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Nick Philpot from the Red and Blue Review podcast expressed his frustration at the march, saying it’s an injustice and that Palace earned their spot in the Europa League. “We won the cup – it should be we go into it without any question about it,” he said. The fans believe that penalizing the entire club and fan base is unfair.
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has also spoken out against the decision, calling it “a bad day for football” and “a terrible injustice”.
He stated that the club has been locked out of European competition due to a “ridiculous technicality”. Parish believes that supporters of all clubs should be concerned about this decision. Over 3,000 fans have signed a petition calling on UEFA to reverse the decision.
The club is expected to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to overturn the decision. Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League. The situation has sparked widespread debate, with many questioning the fairness of UEFA’s rules and the impact on clubs and their fans.
