Crystal Palace have arrived for their high-stakes hearing – at which they will attempt to have their Europa League demotion overturned.
Chairman Steve Parish led a delegation of seven into the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and said he felt the Eagles were about to present a ‘strong case’.
The delegation arrived at 7.17am for a high-stakes hearing that is due to start at 8am.
Parish, in a blue suit, added that he hoped for a ‘fair’ hearing here in Switzerland. Following their early arrival, in two black Mercedes people carriers, he and the group had to wait for officials to unlock the doors to the building.
‘Nice day for it,’ he joked to reporters.
Palace were effectively relegated to the Europa Conference League after UEFA ruled they had breached their rules on multi-club ownership.
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish led a delegation of seven into the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Parish is attempting to have Palace’s demotion to the Conference League overturned
Palace won the FA Cup last season but were subsequently demoted to the Conference League
A UEFA panel found that US businessman John Textor, whose company held a 43 per cent stake in the club, was in a position of influence at Selhurst Park.
Textor’s group also owned French side Lyon, which qualified for the same competition and took priority because they finished higher in their domestic league than FA Cup winners Palace.
Textor has subsequently sold his stake.
Palace are expected to argue that UEFA’s ruling was wrong and will claim double standards were at play, amid allegations other clubs in a similar position were treated differently.
They want UEFA to kick out either Lyon or Nottingham Forest, who took the place they unwillingly vacated.
Forest are also sending a legal team to the hearing.
The case is due to conclude at 3.30pm but may go beyond that. A verdict will be communicated on Monday, before close of business.
The three-person panel that will make the ruling consists of a Dutch striker-turned lawyer who has previous with an English club, a Swiss former fencer who competed in the 1984 Olympics and an Italian professor.
John Textor was found to be in a position of influence at Palace, with his group also owning Lyon
Manfred P. Nan once scored three times in a row in the Netherlands ‘Fishermen derby’ between Telstar and FC Volendam and was president of the CAS panel which turned down Manchester City’s attempt to halt UEFA’s investigation into possible breaches of Financial Fair Play rules in 2019. City would subsequently be handed a Champions League ban, which they then overturned back at CAS.
Injury forced Nan’s retirement while he was Telstar’s top scorer and he became a lawyer in 1985. He has since handled a number of high-profile cases in both criminal and sports law. Nan works for the KNVB’s disciplinary committee in his homeland where he also serves as a deputy judge. Since 2004 he has been appointed arbitrator on more than 300 cases and in 2021 served on CAS’s ad-hoc division at the Tokyo Olympics.
Olivier Carrard, attorney at law, represented his country at the Los Angeles Olympics and served as president of the Swiss Fencing Federation from 2004 to 2021. He was admitted at the Geneva Bar in 1985 and has been involved in more than 450 CAS arbitrations since 1996.
Carrard is viewed as one of the most experienced panel members in the world. Professor Luigi Fumagalli is the president of the panel and is based at the University of Milan. He specialises in international trade, EU law and sport law. Prof Fumagalli is also an appeal judge at Euroleague Basketball.The hearing started in the oval-shaped appeal room on the third floor at 8am GMT. Lunch is scheduled for 11am.
