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Crystal Palace Fans Protested Against, Uefa's Europa League Demotion Decision

Sports

Business Honor
16 July, 2025

Crystal Palace fans protested against Uefa's demotion decision, due to their unfair ownership rules, which led to nearly 3,000 signing a petition for reinstatement.

Uefa's decision to demote Crystal Palace from the Europa League to the Conference League for the coming season caused a protest by the enraged supporters outside Selhurst Park. This decision was made when Uefa found out that Palace had violated multiclub ownership rules by sharing ownership with Lyon, a French team, through Eagle Football Holdings Ltd.

The Holmesdale Fans group led hundreds of supporters in the march from Norwood High Street to Selhurst Park, holding signs that read, "Uefa: morally bankrupt." More than 3,000 people have so far signed the petition to get Palace back to the Europa League. As the time limit failed, Uefa rejected the request to put the ownership shares in a blind trust, which is an approach other clubs use to avoid problems. Parish opposed the rules, stating that Palace would continue to be banned even if people independently owned the team.

All football fans unhappy with the sport's current standing were asked to join the Fanatics. They described the protest as the start of a larger campaign against what they believe to be corruption and prejudice toward a selected few affluent clubs. They want Uefa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport to look into the decision.

The Palace chairman, Steve Parish, described the decision as "one of the biggest injustices in European football." Parish said that John Textor's 43% share in Palace will be acquired by Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets. Uefa stated that it was too late to change the decision. This dispute shows conflicts between the new financial rules and football's norms. This might result in changes to ownership laws, which might make European football easier and more fair for all clubs.