Co-owner John Textor is looking to sell his majority stake in Crystal Palace as the club aims to avoid disqualification from European competition before the tournament even begins.
It was reported yesterday that Crystal Palace is to have a crisis meeting with Uefa in Switzerland on Tuesday to resolve a potential multi-club ownership issue that could see them disqualified from Europe.
Palace, led by Austrian boss Oliver Glasner, won their first piece of major silverware in their 120-year history earlier this month after beating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Winning the tournament also meant the south London club automatically qualified for European football for only the second time in their history.
However, it could all come crumbling down for the Eagles, as Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules do not allow owners to have a majority stake in more than one team in each European competition.
Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League after winning the FA Cup
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Textor, who owns 43 per cent of Palace but has just 25 per cent of the voting rights, also owns a majority share of French club Lyon.
Lyon qualified for the Europa League, the same European competition as Palace, and causes a potential conflict of interest.
As Lyon finished sixth compared to Palace’s 12th, they would take priority in the competition, leaving the remaining option for the Eagles to play in the Conference League instead.
However, one of Textor’s fellow owners at Selhurst Park, David Blitzer, owns Danish side Brondby who qualified for that competition by finishing third in their domestic league.
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John Textor is now looking to sell his stake in Crystal Palace
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On Tuesday, Textor spoke to the Daily Mail to confirm he was looking to sell his stake in the Eagles to prevent the situation.
The situation led to a crucial meeting between Uefa and Palace owners in Switzerland on Tuesday, and Textor confirmed his intention to sell his stake in the club after.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Textor confirmed: “Look, all of the UK knows that I don’t have decisive influence over Palace. It was a good meeting.
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“They listened and we'll see what happens. I wouldn't be trying to sell [my stake] if I did.”
“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.”
It suggests that a panic sale from Textor could prevent Palace from losing out on their qualification - despite eluding to originally wanting to buy more shares in the club before the issue with Uefa arose.
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Crystal Palace are unable to move to the Conference League due to David Blitzer's ownership of Brondby
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Palace was said to be "confident" that they have a strong case to put forward to Uefa, with Textor not having operational control of the club.
Additionally, they argue there is no relationship between Palace and Lyon in terms of shared facilities, assets or players.
If Palace is not successful, the qualification spot would shift to the next-highest team in the league - arch-rivals Brighton.
It would see Nottingham Forest, who endured a stellar campaign but fell out of the top five in the final few weeks of the season, move up from the Conference League to Europa League qualification.
Brighton would then take Forest’s Conference League spot.
A result from Uefa is expected in the next two weeks, although it could be sooner if Textor is able to sell his stake in the club.
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