Nottingham Forest has written to UEFA, asking for clarification on Crystal Palace’s qualification for the 2025–26 Europa League. The club is questioning whether Palace meets UEFA’s rules on club ownership.
Crystal Palace recently secured a place in next season’s Europa League after winning the FA Cup for the first time. However, Nottingham Forest claims the club’s links to Eagle Football—an ownership group led by American investor John Textor—may break UEFA rules.
Eagle Football owns a 43% stake in Crystal Palace and a 77% stake in French club Lyon. Both clubs have qualified for the Europa League.
UEFA regulations ban any person or company from controlling two clubs in the same European competition. The rule is meant to prevent conflicts of interest or match-fixing.
Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League and qualified for the Europa Conference League play-offs, could move up to the Europa League if Palace are ruled out.
According to BBC Sport, Forest submitted their concerns before UEFA’s March 1 deadline, which was introduced to help monitor ownership issues more closely. A previous June 1 deadline had been seen as too late.
Crystal Palace insists they run separately from Lyon and say there is no connection in staff, business, or club operations between the two teams. They believe their Europa League spot is well-earned through their FA Cup win—beating Manchester City 1–0 in the final.
Interestingly, Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, faced a similar issue in the past due to his links with Olympiakos and Rio Ave. He later reduced his ownership share in Forest to meet UEFA’s rules.
Both UEFA and Crystal Palace have declined to comment. A final decision must be made before European qualifiers begin in July.
