Source: REUTERS/DANIEL COLE
[Saba Sports News] Recently, UEFA officially announced that Crystal Palace and Lyon violated UEFA Club Competition Regulations Article 5 on multiple ownership rules. As a result, Crystal Palace will be stripped of its Europa League qualification and will be relegated to the EFL Cup, while Lyon will participate in next season’s Europa League. Nottingham Forest has been granted the spot to compete in next season’s Europa League. Notably, Crystal Palace’s former owner John Textor is also a shareholder of Lyon, and both teams qualified for the Europa League. Additionally, Crystal Palace finished lower in the Premier League than Lyon in Ligue 1, so according to the rules, Crystal Palace could not qualify for the Europa League. Afterward, John Textor decided to sell 45% of his shares in Crystal Palace for over 200 million euros to retain the Europa League qualification. On June 24, Ligue 1 officially announced that Lyon, the seven-time league champions, was penalized for financial misconduct and was relegated to Ligue 2. On July 9, Lyon successfully appealed and remained in Ligue 1. According to an agreement between Lyon and UEFA, they were allowed to compete in next season’s Europa League.