Uefa’s legal team is preparing for more action as a complex and increasingly common issue rears its head again
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n the waterfront offices of Uefa’s House of European Football headquarters in Nyon, the legal team are preparing for an unwanted trip around Lake Geneva to Lausanne. Over the course of many internal meetings since Crystal Palace inadvertently provided Uefa with the toughest test yet of its multi-club ownership (MCO) rules by winning the FA Cup, it has become increasingly clear the ultimate arbiter on the issue is likely to be the court of arbitration for sport (Cas).
“We’re going to find out if our MCO rules stand up to scrutiny as, one way or another, it looks like we’re going to Cas,” says one source at Uefa, resigned to the issue of whether Palace can compete in next season’s Europa League being placed in the hands of that Lausanne court.
Uefa has been liaising closely with Palace, with sources claiming the issue of John Textor’s dual shareholding in the club and Lyon – who qualified for the Europa League by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 – was flagged by the governing body long before the 1 March deadline for resolving MCO issues. The American is in advanced discussions over selling his 44.9% stake in Palace to the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, which may help the club’s cause, although there is no prospect of the deal being completed before Uefa has to make a decision.
