Crystal Palace Worried They Can't Play In The Europa League After FA Cup Champion

Crystal Palace khawatir tak bisa berlaga di Liga Europa 2025/2026 setelah juara Piala FA 2024/2025 (Instagram/@cpfc).

JAKARTA - One of the owners of Crystal Palace, US businessman John Textor, said his immediate reaction to Crystal Palace's success in lifting the 2024/2025 FA Cup in May 2025 was a concern.

The FA Cup winner has the right to qualify for the Europa League. However, Palace's involvement in the 2025/2026 season tournament is threatened because UEFA rules regarding multiclub ownership.

Eagle Football Group, Textor's parent company, owns 43 percent stake in Palace, along with Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon). Despite qualifying for the Europa League last season, both teams faced the possibility of not being able to participate in the tournament.

According to UEFA regulations, if a party owns more than 30 percent of the shares in two different clubs, they cannot participate in the same European tournament.

The impact on both clubs was immediately evident for Textor at Wembley Stadium after Palace's historic victory at the FA Cup.

"Look at me, that's how I thought," he told Talksport about his reaction after Palace beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final.

"I'm very happy, but I feel the weight. I was worried on the same day I was holding the trophy beside Prince (William)."

"It was an incredible moment. I am very happy, I am very happy for the fans, but I am worried about what will happen there," he said.

Textor is in the process of selling his 190 million stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, but the deal has yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Lyon's relegation to Ligue 2 due to financial problems, which were canceled recently, made Textor resign from the board of directors and his position as president.

Despite these developments, UEFA has yet to make a decision on the involvement of clubs in the Europa League. ESPN reports that the decision is expected to come out in the coming days.

"I was stupid enough and quite successful not to predict beforehand what the regulatory agency would say."

"Sometimes, I am so sure about the results of the trial with DNCG (Directorate of Nationale du Controle de Gestion/Directorate of National Management Control) or UEFA."

"So, never, never, never try to predict what they will do."

"I think it insults them. I think they have the right to make decisions and I don't want to judge them."

"I think talks about trust only apply if you have decisive influence."

"Why should I return my shares before March 2025 when the rules say you should only do it if you have decisive influence? I don't."

"However, you don't see a single player from our club network making it into Palace's cast list."

"That's my source of frustration with the lack of collaboration we can do with Crystal Palace," Textor said.