A EUROPEAN club has lost an appeal against Uefa after being expelled from the Europa Conference League.
The news will strike fear into Crystal Palace who are also at threat of being booted out of Europe.
Drogheda United have lost their appeal after being kicked out of the Conference LeagueSportsfile
PACrystal Palace risk being expelled from the Europa League[/caption]
Irish side Drogheda United qualified for the Conference League after winning the FAI Cup.
But they will not be allowed to compete because of rules surrounding multi-club ownership.
Silkeborg, who compete in the Danish top tier, share the same owners as Drogheda – the US-based Trivela Group.
Uefa rules forbid clubs with the same owners from playing in the same competition.
And because Silkeborg finished higher in their league than Drogheda, they will take the spot in the Conference League.
Drogheda appealed the decision, taking their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But they have lost their appeal with the panel rejecting claims of unequal treatment by Uefa.
Uefa advanced its assessment date to March 1 rather than June, but CAS found this was clearly communicated to Drogheda.
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The ruling will cause for concern for Crystal Palace, who risk being kicked out of the Europa League because co-owner John Textor also has shares in Ligue 1 side Lyon as well as Brondby, who play in Denmark‘s Superliga.
Textor is Palace’s largest shareholder at 43 per cent and he is the majority owner of Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League and finished higher than the Eagles in their respective league.
One compromise could have been Palace dropping into the Conference League, but Brondby are in that and also finished above the Eagles in their domestic league.
The American could have placed his Eagles shares into a blind trust, as many other owners have done to avoid this outcome, though the deadline to do so was March 1.
Palace have already met with Uefa in Switzerland arguing that Textor has no controlling influence at Crystal Palace.
While he is the largest shareholder, the billionaire has an equal 25 per cent voting right and has complained about a lack of control and influence in the past.
Senior figures at the club are therefore confident that they will be able to find an agreement with Uefa which will see them take part in the Europa League next season.
Drogheda expressed their “great heartbreak and disbelief” at the CAS decision.
A statement read: “We strongly disagree with this decision, and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail.
“After months of engagement, constructive dialogue, countless hours of legal preparation, and multiple proposals based on frameworks that have been accepted in the past, we have come up short.
“Despite genuine and vocal support across the football world, the ruling did not fall in our favour. We are heartbroken by the outcome.”
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