
Crystal Palace given new D-Day to discover Europa League fate after officially filing appeal to CAS over Uefa decision
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have confirmed they have received an appeal from the Eagles - whose fans protested last week - calling on them to overturn Uefa's decision to demote them from the Europa League.
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Palace 's appeal also calls for French club Lyon and Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest - who took their place in the Europa League - to be dropped down to the Conference League.
CAS say they will fast track the case and a decision on whether the FA Cup winners remain in the Conference League or are returned to the second tier competition will be made by August 11 at the latest.
Palace's fate has been in doubt ever since Uefa raised questions over former owner John Textor's links with Lyon, who have also qualified.
Textor has since sold up at Palace and been booted out of Lyon - but neither club had complied by Uefa's multi-club rules before a new March 1 deadline.
All parties have currently been invited to make submissions to CAS, who will then schedule a hearing.
Forest have currently taken Palace's place in the Europa League after writing to Uefa to complain about Textor's links between Selhurst Park and Lyon.
Crystal Palace's argument has long been that Textor, who owned 43 per cent of the club before selling to American billionaire Woody Johnson, had no influence in south London.
And chairman Steve Parish is confident they can have the decision overturned.
He told The Rest is Football: "We are still fighting.
"There's an appeal process, so we go to CAS, and we're very hopeful. We think we've got great legal arguments.
Crystal Palace fans protest against Europa League demotion
"We don't think this is the right decision by any means. We know, unequivocally, that John [Textor] didn't have decisive influence over the club.
"We know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because it's a fact."
In a statement, CAS said: "The appeal filed on 21 July 2025 seeks to annul the decision by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body which found Crystal Palace and OL non-compliant with multi club ownership regulations and placed Crystal Palace in the UEFA Conference League 2025/2026.
"Alongside the annulment, Crystal Palace requests readmission to the UEFA Europa League 2025/2026 with Nottingham Forest's admission rejected.
"In the alternative, Crystal Palace requests readmission to the UEFA Europa League 2025/2026 with OL's admission rejected."
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Daily Record
8 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Jamie McGrath reveals the truth about his Hibs glory goal as recruit jokes about Aberdeen transfer redemption
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Scotsman
8 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Cross or shot? Hibs Euro goal hero reveals all about wonder strike
Second qualifying round tie finely balanced at 1-1 ahead of Easter Road return leg Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hibs Europa League goal hero Jamie McGrath insists he was DEFINITELY aiming for goal with his wonder free-kick that earned David Gray's men a battling 1-1 draw away to Midtjylland. And the Irishman has warned his team-mates that their European fates can turn in the blink of an eye, as they prepare to welcome the dangerous Danes to Easter Road for the second leg next week. 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Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Early alarm call from travelling Hibs fans 'Yeah, there were a few in the hotel waking us up! You could hear them outside the window all day. 'I don't know if there's much to do around here, but they've been brilliant. Hopefully they'll have a good night tonight and get back safe tomorrow. 'Like I said, Easter Road will be jammed next week. I'm really looking forward to it now.' Aberdeen experience shows danger of Euro foes Referencing his own experience with the Dons against Hacken, McGrath cautioned: 'That's the thing, Europe can change in the flick of a switch. We know we have to address it like we have done this week. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We know in Europe if you switch off for a minute you get punished. We're going to have to be on our A game next week to give ourselves a chance to get through. 'But I think overall we defended the box really well. We kind of limited them to a moment of magic that obviously equalised the game. 'I think if we were a little bit tidier on transitions, we could have maybe capitalised on that a bit better, especially in the second half. Martin Boyle was very close to being onside as well. I didn't see it back, but he obviously was offside if VAR gave it. 'But, of course there's positives to be taken from the first leg. We're going back to a home game next week. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I think that's what we aim to do, is bring it back there. But it's only halfway, we can't get too excited.' As a dead-ball expert himself, you might imagine McGrath to have recognised a fellow connoisseur in Midtjylland scorer Amil Simir. Maybe in time, he'll find something to admire about the opponent's equaliser … 'No, I never admire it,' he said with a grin. 'You're just thinking: 'Oh no!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'There wasn't much we could have done about it. Maybe foul the player a bit earlier in that attack. It's always when you look back, you can change different things. 'The pleasing thing was how we defended the box. From the front, I thought we defended really well. The two boys up top worked their socks off and the boys that came in as well carried on the trend. 'I think probably a draw was a fair result. But yeah, they're used to being in the Champions League - so we probably would take a draw going into next week.' McGrath, whose last European goal was a free-kick against PAOK for Aberdeen just under two years ago, had joked on the eve of the Midtjylland game that he needed to contribute something in Denmark – if only to counter the good-natured stick he's taken from team-mates since joining Hibs. 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Smudger (Jordan Smith) in goal as well, he was brilliant all night coming for crosses. 'He tie is still alive. We'll bring it back next week and give ourselves a chance.'


Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
England must tap into the old lump-it-long, bulldog spirit to slay Spain in the Euro 2025 final, writes IAN HERBERT
There was a brief moment of confusion on the eve of the Lionesses' Euros semi-final against Italy when Sarina Wiegman was asked if she had 'fallen in love' with England and, not entirely understanding why she was being asked, did not come straight out with the most fulsome answer. 'Yes…' she replied, rather falteringly and without elaboration. Wiegman later said it had been a comprehension problem. It can be this way with her. English language and colloquialisms — 'console your team' and 'let the cat out of the bag' — have flummoxed her over the past few years. The question was extremely relevant given the way 'Englishness', in an old-fashioned 1980s football sense, has been the team's watchword here, and referenced by a2 number of the players of how England survived a bumpy road to reach Sunday's final against Spain. Chloe Kelly arrived to speak on Tuesday as the semi-final's player of the match and declared: 'I'm proud to be English.' 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'Do or die' has been the only way, as seen in the dramatic last-eight and semi-final comebacks Some of this fighting spirit has been a necessary product of England's failure to get anywhere near the technical levels they found in the 2022 tournament. Finalists they might be, but they have not played well in progressing the ball up the pitch. 'Do or die' has been the only way. To watch back the two goals England scored in their comeback win against Spain in the 2022 quarter-final is to be reminded of how diminished in technical brio and confidence they seem to have become. But there has also been a profitable reversion to the old England. When her team was being torn apart by France in the opening game, Wiegman told Walsh, the midfield technician, to play longer balls. Against the Dutch, who England rightly expected would press them, Walsh went vertical again in what was the team's best display here. 'It helped us playing longer,' Walsh said. 'It plays to our forwards' strengths. If the way to win is playing one straight pass that's what we're going to do.' Against the weaker Welsh, England played through the midfield. The numbers bear out this reversion to what was once an admired and feared brand of English football. The percentage of England passes sent long has increased from 10.6 per cent at the 2023 World Cup, where they were beaten by Spain in the final, to 13.2 here, Stats Perform data shows. Their number of successful passes which are long is 201 (9.1 per cent) compared with 5.8 per cent at the World Cup and 7.5 per cent at the 2022 Euros. Heading into a final against the best passing team in the world, the principles of scrapping and lumping it seem a good way to win and find sweet recompense for the one-sided 2023 World Cup final. Become engaged in a midfield battle with Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas and it could be a long night. Beautiful though their tiki-taka aesthetic was in the semi-final against Germany, Spain struggled to create scoring chances. A long ball attack on Spain down England's left would put Lauren Hemp up against right back Ona Batlle. Hemp has had the better of that battle during Manchester derbies, when Batlle played for United and Hemp, now at Barcelona, was with City. The key is getting Hemp in behind Batlle to find crosses which can target the 34-year-old Spanish captain Irene Paredes, whose lack of pace can be exploited. England's equaliser against Spain three years ago demonstrated the value of going aerial in this way. A gorgeous left-footed cross by Hemp saw Alessia Russo beat Parades in the air, leaving her flat on the ground as Ella Toone pounced on the dropping ball to score. England won 2-1. There were similarities between that Toone goal and the equaliser against Italy: a cross from even deeper on the right and the ball dropping to Michelle Agyemang to score. England get lots of bodies in the box and have some of the best headers of the ball in this tournament. The potential for this plan to deliver the early goal screams out for 19-year-old Agyemang, the prodigy, to start, though she almost certainly will not. Wiegman bristled when asked on Tuesday if Agyemang, who appeared from the bench in both knock-out games here and changed the course of them, was forcing her to consider her as a starter. 'She's not forcing me,' Wiegman said. 'She's grateful for minutes and been ready for it.' A vital contributor to a more direct approach will be Lucy Bronze — a huge presence in the past month. She got forward down the right for the back-post header against the Swedes. Her decisive penalty in that game confirmed her as the fearless epitome of this resilient England. 'I don't think we've ever negated tactics or anything else that comes with the game with the term 'proper England', Bronze said. 'But we don't want to ever forget we are England — proper England — and if push comes to shove, we can win in any means possible.' Georgia Stanway, another of the pillars of the team, feels the same. 'We've spoken about wanting to be proper England,' she said. 'We want to go back to what we're good at, a traditional style of football in terms of tough tackles, getting back down to our roots.' It has been a rollercoaster ride for this team. Perhaps the most improbable journey to a final. But the chaos of these past weeks has armed them with a psychological edge: a knowledge they are never beaten.