BBC: Forest complains to UEFA for Crystal Palace s UEFA qualifying, Crystal Palace shareholders hold 77% stake in Lyon

BBC reported that Nottingham Forest has expressed concerns to UEFA about Crystal Palace's qualification to participate in the UEFA Cup and asked UEFA to clarify this.

Crystal Palace has qualified for the European tournament for the first time by winning the FA Cup, but UEFA must decide whether they violated the multi-club ownership rules. The final ruling will focus on John Turkestor, an American businessman who holds a 43% stake in Crystal Palace. Eagle Football, a subsidiary of Textor, also owns 77% of the French team Lyon, which has also qualified for the Europa League next season. According to UEFA's regulations, "no individual or legal entity" shall not hold the majority shareholder voting rights of two clubs in the same European event.

Nottingham Forest is ranked seventh in the Premier League and qualifies for the Europa League play-offs, but Nottingham Forest may be promoted to the Europa League if Crystal Palace is unable to compete in the European competition. Sources told BBC Sports that Nottingham Forest has expressed their concerns to UEFA. UEFA's rules are designed to prevent collusion between clubs. Crystal Palace believes that their victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup and qualifying for Europe is an achievement made entirely by their own strength. Crystal Palace insists that it is a completely independent entity and is not part of the multi-club model. Crystal Palace also said there was no sharing of employees, backstage staff or coaches with Lyon, no dialogue, no cooperative strategies, no joint partnerships, sponsorships or commercial deals, and no collective scouting, analytics or software collaborations with them.

Nottingham Forest avoided this problem, as its boss Evanellos Marinakis diluted his control over the club. The Greek businessman also controls Olympiacos and Portuguese side Rio Avi. At that time, Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos were both likely to qualify for the Champions League next season. Nottingham Forest has complied with the rules as UEFA postponed the deadline for clubs to submit potential ownership structure issues from June 1 to March 1 in response to excessive inspection work caused by previous deadlines. The first and second rounds of the UEFA Cup and Europa League will be held in July. Before this, Crystal Palace did not take any other action.