Textor Insists Palace Influence ‘not Decisive’ As Club Fear Europa League Ban

John Textor has insisted that he didn’t person a decisive power astatine Crystal Palace arsenic nan FA Cup winners await Uefa’s determination connected whether they tin compete successful adjacent season’s Europa League.

Palace are facing nan threat of being demoted to nan Conference League by European football’s governing assemblage because nan American businessman besides owns a mostly liking successful Ligue 1 broadside Lyon, who person besides qualified for nan Europa League. The French nine have successfully appealed against relegation to Ligue 2, pinch Uefa having delayed its ruling connected Palace past week pending nan result of Lyon’s appeal.

Uefa sources person indicated that its Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), which investigates alleged breaches of its multi-club ownership rules, is owed to determine connected Palace’s destiny this week. Clubs are barred from competing successful nan aforesaid Uefa title if an individual aliases ownership group is considered to person a decisive power complete much than 1 of those teams.

Textor precocious agreed to waste his Palace shares to nan New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, a woody that is expected to beryllium ratified by nan Premier League successful nan coming days. Textor besides owns Brazilian broadside Botafogo, who defeated Paris Saint-Germain during nan group stages of nan Club World Cup past month, but he revealed that he did not moreover see placing his shares successful Palace into a unsighted spot earlier Uefa’s 1 March deadline because it was clear he was not successful day-to-day power astatine Selhurst Park.

“Why should I put my liking successful a spot backmost earlier March erstwhile nan norm says you only person to do it if you person decisive influence? I don’t,” he told TalkSport connected Thursday.

“If I had a decisive influence, past those Brazilian players that conscionable hit PSG successful nan Club World Cup, half of them would beryllium coming to Crystal Palace adjacent year. But you don’t spot 1 azygous subordinate from our web of clubs that’s made its measurement onto nan Palace roster, which is nan root of my vexation pinch nan deficiency of collaboration that we’ve been capable to person pinch Crystal Palace. I americium dumb capable and successful capable to not foretell successful beforehand what a governing assemblage is going to say.”

Asked what his power was astatine Palace, Textor added: “I helped. I helped a lot. I showed up during Covid. I paid disconnected nan Covid debt. I helped decorativeness nan academy. The capital, I’m sitting location connected nan committee pinch 4 different guys. [Chairman Steve] Parish is making decisions. He’s bringing america players. He involves us, but he doesn’t really perceive to us. He does, but a proposal from clip to clip is not nan aforesaid arsenic decisive influence.”

Textor besides rejected reports that he had told nan CFCB that he had been instrumental successful nan determination to prosecute Oliver Glasner arsenic Palace’s head past year.

“I tried to prosecute him successful Lyon. And if [former Palace sporting director] Dougie Freedman notices and he goes to sojourn him successful Salzburg conscionable nan measurement I did and he ends up astatine Crystal Palace, is location a relationship there? I don’t know. Steve’s not going to beryllium told who to prosecute arsenic a coach,” he said.

“It’s incredibly untrue. We sat successful beforehand of nan Uefa sheet and were highly accordant connected nan deficiency of decisive influence. I don’t moreover cognize if I suggested him to Dougie but Dougie recruited him.”

Textor confirmed that he attempted to return afloat power of Palace 2 weeks earlier nan FA Cup last against Manchester City. But he claimed Parish had been fixed a “stay of execution” aft he grounded to work together a woody to bargain nan 36% liking owned by chap Americans Josh Harris and David Blitzer, pinch nan threat of being banned from nan Europa League having forced him to waste his shares to Johnson.

“This evidently strengthened him successful that position,” he said of Parish. “I deliberation his ambition each twelvemonth is to debar relegation. Our ambition is to climb nan table.”

Asked whether his hopes of taking complete Palace had been scuppered by Uefa’s rules connected multi-club ownership, Textor added: “I ne'er want to beryllium nan man. Ask nan feline that drives nan reddish Ferrari that. But I’m not that guy.”