Thank you Mr Hindsight. Do you know what the content of the emails were and did you know that different advice was provided to privileged members of the ECA whom we are not members of. Do you know whether we were told by UEFA that we were considered to be a team in multi club ownership and would therefore be required to comply with their new date before entering any competition with a European prize?
I’m guessing you don’t know the answers to these questions and Parish’s legal team were fuming because CAS refused access to or to reveal documents and emails that could have benefited our case.
I cannot believe that as a Palace fan you think we should have just gone, “oh yeah, your right let’s just give up our place in the Europa League” as you suggest above.
I fully support Parish in challenging this to the fullest extent but this does not mean that I excuse him from not getting players through the door. They are two entirely different things and the vital players we require (a forward and a CH) would be required regardless of which tournament we were likely to be in.
I also don’t know how you associate the loss of Freedman and a replacement (if that is actually the plan), with our appeal to CAS. Do you not think this was capable of being dealt with at the same time?
Dear Eglecoops,
Thank you for your kind words, hindsight has nothing to do with this matter it is called common-sense. The facts are simple:-
1. At least two emails were sent to the registered email address informing the club of the changes to multi club ownership article 5.01 by UEFA. The club did not action them or even read them according to what Parish has stated and reported in the press. Sadly and naively the reason Parish gave for not responding to them because the emails were not sent to him directly and as at the date of the emails, we were unlikely to be evolved in Europe for this coming season.
The clubs contact email address for the club is published as being the email address
info@cpfc.co.uk This is published on club contact information registered with UEFA and is the reason why the emails were sent to that address well before the 01.03.25 deadline. Someone at the club (unknown) decided they were not important and did not require any action (mistake). Meanwhile Notting Forrest did read the communications and acted on them. They requested an extension and were granted one giving them enough time to take the necessary action to comply.
2. Yes, I do think they should have accepted that UEFA were correct as its was clear with a 43% stake and 25% voting rights John Textor was in a multi club ownership with Lyon, to believe otherwise is letting you heart rule your head. Therefore the rules were applied correctly as of the 1st March 2025. Had Parish taken action on the emails he could have also asked for an extension in order to sort matters out but alas he did not and as a consequence UEFA decided according to their rules we were in multi club ownership and that as Lyon were better positioned in the French elite league, we were relegated to the conference UEFA competition. Parish only began to realise that he was in trouble viz the Europa league place after we won the FA-Cup, by which time it was too late.
Sadly, Parish having realised that the club admin error was going to be a very expensive error for the club he then decided to appeal directly to UEFA, this was refused in accordance to the rules that were now in place, because we did not comply with article 5.01. Then presumably after consulting the clubs lawyers he decided to go to CAS, who again ruled on the facts being that we were not in compliant with article 5.01 and that UEFA had applied the rules correctly. You comments relating to club lawyers is noted, clearly as Lawyers always do they encourage litigation even when the chances of winning are at best 50/50 as that is their business. The only surety in litigation that is waited in favour of lawyers is that they get their fees win or lose.
3. The loss of Freeman of course has nothing to do with the process but what has happened is Parish has focused on this one issue at the expense of sorting out what is going to happen to Eze, Guehi and maybe Wharton, ignoring the request for new players thus upsetting Oliver who wants a stronger squad to take the club to the next level. He has also not found a replacement for Freedman to drive our transfer business and plan for the squad succession (he had plenty of notice about Freeman leaving). Everything seems to have been placed in abeyance whilst Parish pursues unachievable dreams. It's the club I care about, not Parish and I'm afraid as good as Parish may have been in the past, I do not see him as one to take us to even greater horizons in the future. We are now faced with just a few days left in this window and the quality of players available is dwindling by the day.
Kindest regards