Crystal Palace will learn no later than August 11 which European competition they will play in next season after submitting an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The London club, who won last season’s FA Cup, were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League after falling foul of UEFA’s rules governing multi-club ownership.
European football’s governing body determined that as of March 1, American businessman John Textor had control or influence in Palace and French club Lyon.
Where one or more club are found to have shared ownership, they cannot play in the same competition, and Lyon held on to the Europa League spot by virtue of their higher league position. Palace’s place in the second-tier competition was taken by Nottingham Forest.
The CAS issued a statement on Tuesday confirming it had received an appeal by Palace and would render an operative decision – without written reasons – on or before August 11. A date for the hearing has not yet been scheduled, the court said.
The CAS confirmed Palace were seeking to take either Forest’s or Lyon’s place in the Europa League.
Textor has agreed to sell his stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, but the move came too late to satisfy UEFA.
Palace’s prospects looked brighter when Lyon were relegated to France’s second division by the country’s football finance regulator.
Lyon had reached a settlement with UEFA agreeing to be excluded from European competition if their appeal against that sanction failed, but they managed to overturn the initial decision and hold on to their top-flight place.
The CAS said parties were currently exchanging written submissions.
Palace fans have staged protests against the ruling, and club chairman Steve Parish told The Rest Is Football podcast last week: “We are still fighting. There’s an appeal process, so we go to CAS which is the court for arbitration and, you know, we’re very hopeful. We think we’ve got great legal arguments.
“We don’t think this is the right decision by any means. We know unequivocally that John didn’t have decisive influence over the club.
“We know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because it’s a fact.”
