Crystal Palace - the team that just won the FA Cup last season - is at risk of being relegated to the UEFA Conference League instead of participating in the Europa League.
The reason is believed to be due to serious shortcomings in administrative work, especially when ignoring many warning emails from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
In theory, with the FA Cup title, Crystal Palace should have had a direct place in the Europa League. However, UEFA applies strict rules by banning two teams with the same owner from participating in the same tournament.
At the time of the official announcement, American billionaire John Textor was holding both Crystal Palace and Lyon. Accordingly, the French representative is also eligible to participate in the Europa League.
In the end, UEFA decided to prioritize Lyon in the 2025-2026 Europa League, pushing the London team to the Conference League. This has helped Nottingham Forest, the team ranked 7th in the Premier League last season, surprisingly have the opportunity to " promote" to the Europa League.
Crystal Palace president Steve Parish could not hide his dissatisfaction in the media. However, he and the club's board must take responsibility for this ironic situation.
Mr. Parish admitted that his staff have ignored many important reminders about UEFA regulations.
According to the British media, the email address that the club provided to receive UEFA's policy updates has the end "info@cpfc.co.uk". This is a letter box used to handle complaints from fans or answer unreasonably important questions from the press, not a place to receive decisive announcements.
Crystal Palace's story is a reminder of the importance of information management. negligence in administrative work has put the team at a disadvantage.
Crystal Palace's fragile hopes are now in the upcoming appeal hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. They must convince the authorities to regain their place in the Europa League.
