Skip to main content

Doubts about Palace Europe place likely to be resolved

Crystal Palace’s Europa League place could hinge on whether Uefa decides to allow the French club Lyon to take part in the competition next season.

Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) disqualified Lyon — owned by the Palace shareholder John Textor — from European competitions in December but allowed them to continue after the club met certain demands. Manchester United eliminated them from the Europa League at the quarter-final stage.

However, Lyon are being “carefully monitored” by the CFCB and if they are deemed to be in breach of a settlement agreement they could be disqualified from next season’s Europa League.

That should leave Palace, who qualified for the Europa League after winning the FA Cup, in the clear in relation to Uefa’s multiclub ownership rules, which obliged sister clubs to set up separate ownership structures before March 1 if they hoped to play in the same competition next season.

Rival clubs such as Nottingham Forest and Palace rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, who did take such steps to separate their ownership structures from those of other clubs in European competitions, could stand to benefit if Palace are excluded from the Europa League.

Forest — whose owner, Evangelos Marinakis, diluted his control of the club because he also owns the Greek team Olympiacos — could take the Europa League place, with Brighton, who finished a place below Forest in the Premier League, getting their Conference League spot.

Palace chiefs met the CFCB in Nyon, Switzerland, on Tuesday to present their case that, whatever happens to Lyon, they are not in breach of the rules as the clubs are not part of the same ownership group and do not share any staff, facilities or information.

Textor, an American businessman, owns 43 per cent of Palace’s shares but the club argue that he has no say over day-to-day operations. Textor, 59, has only 25 per cent of the voting rights at Palace, alongside Steve Parish, the chairman, and two other partners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, and indeed has previously spoken about his frustration at the lack of influence he has at Selhurst Park. He has also been trying to sell his shares in Palace for months.

Multi-club ownership poses some dilemmas for Uefa, but the links here are relatively tenuous.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...