Oliver Glasner has said he is confident Crystal Palace will win their appeal at the court of arbitration for sport this week and be reinstated to play in the Europa League.
Palace are seeking to overturn Uefa’s decision to demote them to the Conference League for breaking multiclub ownership rules, with the appeal to take place in Lausanne on Friday. The decision is expected to be revealed by Cas on Monday, the day after Glasner’s FA Cup holders face the Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield at Wembley.
“We don’t have any influence on the decision from Uefa, we don’t have any influence on the decision from Cas, so it just makes no sense that we’re thinking about it,” Glasner told Sky on Tuesday.
“We focus on what we have to do on the pitch, how to create this spirit in the group, this togetherness, this commitment, and this is what we are doing day by day. We’re waiting for the final decision, we’re still confident that the appeal will be successful and that we will play in the Europa League. But in the end, on 11 August, we will know the final decision – then we will start to prepare for Europe.”
Palace – who confirmed last month that the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, completed his purchase of John Textor’s 43% stake – are understood to believe they have a strong chance of winning the appeal. They are expected to present evidence that they insist proves Uefa’s deadline to change their ownership structure so they complied with its rules was not 1 March but rather 30 April, as well as pointing out that Textor’s departure has removed the barrier to their participation.
The American still owns the French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the coming season’s Europa League. It is understood that Textor will not be part of the Palace delegation that travels to Switzerland for the Cas hearing.
Nottingham Forest, who qualified for the Conference League after finishing seventh in the Premier League, would stand to be promoted to the Europa League if Palace’s appeal fails. On Monday, Palace were drawn to play against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Norway’s Fredrikstad or Midtjylland of Denmark in the Conference League playoffs, with the first leg scheduled to take place at Selhurst Park on 21 August.
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An article on the club’s official website detailing their potential opponents was deleted not long after being published, while Palace’s X account also removed a message about the draw.