Palace's Europa League Appeal in Jeopardy as UEFA Lists Forest

UEFA appear to have ALREADY decided Crystal Palace’s Europa League appeal is doomed - by listing Nottingham Forest as their official replacements.

Furious Palace bosses are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to get their demotion to the Conference League overturned.

2 Crystal Palace's Europa League hopes have suffered a major blow

2 Uefa have listed Nottingham Forest as Palace's official replacements

Selhurst Park bosses will argue that there is no question of former Lyon owner John Textor - who has now sold his entire 44.9 per cent stake in the Eagles - having “decisive” control over Palace.

Chairman Steve Parish urged Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin to intervene and prevent his club from suffering “the biggest injustice in the history of football”.

When Uefa announced the decision of its Club Financial Control Body on Friday there was no confirmation that Forest , who finished sixth in the Prem, would be elevated in place of the FA Cup winners.

It was explained that a formal confirmation would not come until after the outcome of Palace ’s CAS appeal was known.

But Uefa’s official website's list of entrants for the Europa League now has Forest’s name alongside Aston Villa as England’s representatives - with Chelsea not taking up their place as Conference League winners because of their qualification for the Champions League.

While it might have been explained as a glitch, the official list contains a number of other domestic cup winners who Palace expected to be joining in the competition.

They include Coppa Italia winners Bologna, German Pokal winners Stuttgart and Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles.

Parish and Palace were left heartbroken by the Uefa decision, which came despite the FA contacting Euro bosses on their behalf and urging leniency.

Hopes that Palace could persuade the Lausanne-based CAS that Uefa’s decision to bring the multi-club ownership disengagement deadline forward from June to March 1 was unfair were hit by a ruling from the Court on Monday.

CAS dismissed a similar argument from Slovakian side DAC 1904 after they were booted out of the Conference League because they are under the same ownership umbrella as Hungarian club Gyori.

DAC claimed Uefa’s change to the “relevant assessment date” was “invalid and not enforceable”.

However, the CAS judges unanimously ruled: “The change of the assessment date was in accordance with the procedures established by the Uefa Statutes.”