Crystal Palace lose appeal against UEFA after being dumped out of Europa League

The club had qualified for European football's second best competition League by winning the FA Cup in May.

But they have been moved down to the Conference League, Europe's third competition, for allegedly failing to comply with the governing body's multi-club ownership rules.

Nottingham Forest, who reported Palace to UEFA earlier this year, are set to take the Eagles' place in the Europa League.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) delivered the ruling on Monday, which could cost Palace up to £20m in lost revenue.

Palace had submitted an appeal to CAS against UEFA in July.

Read more: Crystal Palace beat Liverpool on penalties to win Community Shield for first time ever

Read more: Crystal Palace confirm plans to appeal UEFA decision after being dumped out of Europa League

It comes after former shareholder John Textor, who was the majority owner of French club Lyon, failed to put his Palace shares in a blind trust by the deadline of 1 March.

Under its competition rules, clubs with the same owner(s) are banned from playing each other in the same tournament.

Lyon took priority over the Eagles as they finished higher in their domestic league.

The move will deliver a devastating blow to Palace, who won the Community Shield against Liverpool on Sunday for the first time in the club's history.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has previously blasted the decision to demote his club.

He told the Rest is Football podcast: “We are still fighting.

“There’s an appeal process, so we go to CAS which is the court for arbitration and, you know, we’re very hopeful. We think we’ve got great legal arguments.

“We don’t think this is the right decision by any means. We know unequivocally that John didn’t have decisive influence over the club.

“We know we proved that beyond all reasonable doubt because it’s a fact.”