Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has admitted he has “sympathy” for Crystal Palace after their Europa League place was downgraded to the Conference League.
Masters added that he hopes relationships between Palace and Nottingham Forest, who took the Eagles' place in the Europa League, do not “spill over” as a result of UEFA’s and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)’s rulings.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup but were demoted to the Conference League by UEFA for breaches of the European governing body’s multi-club ownership rules.
It relates to their former co-owner John Textor failing to meet a deadline to place his shares in Palace into a blind trust to avoid any potential breaches given he also owns French club Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League.
Palace this week learned they have lost an appeal to CAS and that they would indeed enter the Conference League, with England’s next-in-line European qualifiers, Forest, replacing them in the Europa League.
The Eagles released a fierce club statement arguing the decision “shows that sporting merit is rendered meaningless”.
Now, the chief executive of the Premier League has said that he sympathises with the Eagles, calling on both implicated clubs to ensure they do not let their relationship be frayed by the verdict.
“As you know, I think everyone is aware of the facts, and broadly speaking we have sympathy for Palace and their fans that they have ended up qualifying for the Europa League but ended up playing in the Conference League,” Masters told reporters on Thursday.
“UEFA and CAS have adjudicated that multiple-ownership rules were breached. I have no knowledge of the facts. This is somebody else’s jurisdiction. The Premier League does not have jurisdiction over it.
“I would say that nothing should take away from the achievements of the team and Oliver Glasner. They have won the FA Cup for the first time in their history, and the Community Shield last week. They are going into Europe and I don’t think that should be forgotten.”
Masters added: “A place in the Europa League competition, there is a lot at stake there. We are dealing with something that hasn’t quite happened before in English football.
“It’s created some controversy. Football has lots of controversy in it. As long as that doesn’t spill over into relationships between the clubs — which I don’t anticipate it will — I expect for things to continue in a normal way.”
