CRYSTAL PALACE co-owner John Textor is trying to SELL his stake in the club to prevent the Eagles being booted out of the Europa League, reports suggest.
Despite winning the FA Cup, the south London club faces being unable to compete in the Europa League for the first time ever next season due to Uefa multi-club ownership rules.
Shutterstock EditorialCrystal Palace face not being able to compete in the Europa League due to multi-club ownership rules[/caption]
GettyThe issue comes from co-owner John Textor, who also owns Lyon[/caption]
APHe is now trying to sell his stake in the Eagles less than a month after their FA Cup glory[/caption]
American businessman Textor owns a 43 per cent share in the Selhurst Park outfit.
However, his ownership of Ligue 1 side Lyon has placed Palace’s place in the competition in jeopardy without a ball even being kicked.
That is because the French outfit also qualified for next season’s Europa League, but due to their superior league position have preference for a spot.
Palace chiefs flew out to Switzerland for a meeting on the shores of Lake Geneva earlier this week for crunch talks with Uefa about the problem.
According to the Daily Mail, those talks lasted for around two hours and ended in Textor putting the club up for grabs to avoid a potential disaster.
He has previously declared his intention to sell when trying to buy Everton, alongside the fact he has access to just 25 per cent of voting rights at the club.
Speaking to the Mail about the meeting, he said: “Look, all of the UK knows that I don’t have decisive influence over Palace. It was a good meeting.
“They listened and we’ll see what happens. I wouldn’t be trying to sell (his stake) if I did.”
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The 59-year-old added: “We are trying to help separate it and sell.
“We wanted to buy but it’s become clear that isn’t going to happen and so we’re trying to help Palace and the situation with UEFA. That’s about all I can say.”
The report adds Uefa lawyers will now consider the argument before making a decision in the “near future” ahead of the draw for the qualifying stages of the Conference League.
However, Palace being booted out of the Europa League is not the worst-case scenario due to the unprecedented nature of a third club being involved.
The Eagles could even be booted out of the Conference League if they were forced to suffer a “relegation” to avoid two competing interests, due to the ownership of shareholder David Blitzer.
Blitzer is said to own around 18 per cent of the shares in the club, but also owns Danish outfit Brondby.
They appear to be in line to take a spot in the Conference League which would bring Palace into conflict with ownership rules again.
Brondby finished third in Denmark‘s league, but Palace would argue that qualifying for a higher-ranked competition by winning the FA Cup entitles them to the spot.
That being said, if Palace end up being thrown out of European football entirely, bitter rivals Brighton would inherit a spot in the Conference League, while Nottingham Forest move up to the Europa League.
Manchester United faced a similar issue last year when they won the FA Cup and were placed below French club Nice in the priority list due to their higher finish in Ligue 1.
Both were ultimately allowed to compete, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s Ineos agreeing to a transfer embargo between the two clubs and major changes at board level for Nice in a so-called “blind-trust” deal.
Manchester City had to do the same when Spanish side Girona, owned by the UAE‘s City Football Group, surprisingly qualified for the Champions League last season.
As a precaution, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis made similar changes when it appeared both the English side and Greek outfit Olympiakos were on course to qualify for the Champions League.
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CRYSTAL PALACE secured their first ever trophy with a famous FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.
The Eagles went into the match as underdogs but managed to nullify the former Treble winners with a spectacular defensive display.
And at the heart of it was goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who could have been sent off for handling the ball outside the box before making the most of his reprieve.
The goalkeeper went on to save a penalty from Omar Marmoush before producing a string of saves to keep Pep Guardiola’s men out.
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