Crystal Palace's appeal against their demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League has failed. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled against the Premier League club, upholding UEFA's decision to relegate them to the third-tier European competition.

The saga began when Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup in May. However, UEFA determined that the club was in violation of multi-club ownership rules due to John Textor's significant shareholding in both Crystal Palace and French club Lyon. UEFA regulations prohibit clubs with the same owner(s) from competing against each other in the same tournament.

According to reports, UEFA had set a deadline of March 1st for Textor to place his Crystal Palace shares into a blind trust. As this deadline was not met, the club was demoted to the Conference League. Nottingham Forest, whose owner Evangelos Marinakis had previously placed his shares in a blind trust to avoid a similar conflict of interest with Olympiakos, reportedly brought the issue to UEFA's attention.

Crystal Palace immediately appealed UEFA's decision, leading to a hearing in front of three CAS judges in Lausanne on Friday. Despite Chairman Steve Parish's attendance and efforts to secure a favorable outcome, the appeal was ultimately unsuccessful.

As a result of the CAS ruling, Crystal Palace will now participate in the Conference League. They are scheduled to face the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Norway's Fredrikstad and Denmark's Midtjylland in a playoff match. The first leg is set to take place at Selhurst Park on August 21st, just three days before their Premier League match against Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest and Lyon are confirmed to enter directly into the Europa League in September.