Crystal Palace, who were expelled from the Europa League and will have to play in the Conference League, complained this Saturday against UEFA and assured that it is "one of the biggest injustices in football".

The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) admitted this Friday the registration of Olympique Lyonnais have been selected for the next edition of the Europa League, but not for English club Crystal Palace, who have been relegated to the Conference League, arguing that the clubs do not meet the timeshare criteria set out in the UEFA Club Competition Regulations.

“We are devastated,” club chairman Steve Parish told Sky Sports. “We are devastated for the fans. I think the fans of every team should be devastated because this is the dream. You win a title for the first time in history. Someone told me it's like winning the lottery, going to collect, and they don't want to give it to you.” The conflict stems from the participation of American businessman John Textor, who, through his company Eagle Football Holdings, owns 43 percent of Crystal Palace and is also the majority shareholder of Lyon, when the regulations do not allow clubs from the same group to participate in the same competition. “Either you allow clubs with timeshares or you ban them. They have to find a formula, but, despite that, we were never part of one. Everyone knows my position on this. I don't think they are right; other people disagree and that's fine, but we have nothing to do with them. UEFA is at a crossroads. Either they intervene and do the right thing or they let this happen and commit one of the great injustices in history.” "of European football," he asserted.

Palace argues that Textor did not have a "decisive influence" at Palace and that the club is not part of a timeshare. "Everyone knows that we have no employees, players, loans or transactions with Lyon," he insisted.

"They caught us with a rule that wasn't made for us. It will change,“No one is going to want that rule to remain in place. It’s madness, and I don’t understand how this committee has come to this conclusion. We’ve proven in every possible way that John did not have a decisive influence on the club, and yet we still have to deal with this decision, which is inconsistent,” he said. Palace will now go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal the decision, which has benefited Nottingham Forest, who are moving from the Conference League to the Europa League. “I don’t believe that a football club with Forest’s history, very similar to ours, would want to be part of taking this away from us. I don’t believe it. Many Forest fans have contacted me and told me they don’t want to get into the Europa League in this way,” Parish added.