Crystal Palace are sitting in UEFA’s naughty corner today (Friday), waiting to discover if they’ll be allowed to play in next season’s Europa League – because John Textor’s multi-club empire is infringing on UEFA’s rules.
The Eagles should be celebrating their first-ever European qualification after that magical FA Cup triumph, and frankly, they’ve got every right to be nervous, because Textor’s approach to football ownership has created exactly the kind of regulatory nightmare that gives administrators nightmares.
UEFA executives will decide Palace’s fate on Friday evening.
Textor holds a 43% stake in Palace while also having control over French side Lyon – who also qualified for the Europa League. UEFA’s rules are crystal clear: linked clubs can’t compete in the same European competition.
Just when you thought this couldn’t get any messier, Lyon have been relegated to Ligue 2 because of their dire financial state. That’s right – while Textor was busy playing Football Manager across multiple countries, one of his actual clubs has nosedived into the French second tier.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Palace, mind you. With Lyon potentially out of European competition altogether thanks to their relegation shambles, UEFA’s multi-club concerns might just evaporate, but, then again, they might not.
Enter Woody Johnson, the New York Jets owner who’s apparently decided he fancies a go at ruining a football club after years of spectacular mismanagement in the NFL. Johnson has signed a “legally binding contract” to buy Textor’s 43% stake for close to £190 million.
Johnson hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory when it comes to management turning the Jets into the NFL’s laughingstock – a franchise so catastrophically managed that they’ve become a punchline in American sports.
Johnson’s track record with the Jets reads like a manual on how not to run a sports franchise. Multiple coaching changes, quarterback carousels, playoff droughts that have stretched longer than some Palace fans have been alive – it’s been a masterpiece of mismanagement.
Palace have been insisting that Textor has “no significant control” despite his shareholding. UEFA isn’t stupid – they can see through these paper-thin arguments about influence and control. When you own 43% of a football club, you don’t get to pretend you’re just a passive observer.
The cruel irony is that Palace have never been closer to European football, and they might miss out not because they’re not good enough, but because their ownership structure is a regulatory nightmare created by people who treat football clubs like trading cards.
Whether UEFA show mercy on Friday evening remains to be seen, but one thing’s certain: Palace are about to swap one questionable owner for another whose track record suggests this European adventure might be the least of their worries in the years ahead.
Insideworldfootball.com
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