Needless to say we are all trying to figure out what is going on, and if I make a mistake I am the first to own up to it. And bear in mind, I was the one to point out my own error.
The first email was forwarded on by the FA to all club secretaries back in October 2024. I simply do not believe this was the first email sent by UEFA that came to the attention of Steve Parish. It then begs the question, what is the role of the club secretary in relation to this type of email? It must surely be to forward it on to the directors, with their own comments added.
That’s what should have happened and no doubt that’s what did happen.
Then we fast forward to this
info@cpfc.co.uk situation. Why did UEFA feel the need to use this account after having sent their initial change of policy notification to the club secretaries? Why was the same email then resent then sent again? Clearly, this was done out of an escalating sense of urgency, which none of the directors felt they needed to respond to or take any action on, and they were undoubtedly wrong in doing nothing. No, we are not an MCO club, but there are MCO issues that needed to be addressed and clarified.
You have never once accepted the validity of my assertion that John Textor, in particular, should have utilised the services of the ECA: why is that? What is so unreasonable about that assertion?
Both John Textor and David Blitzer had ample time to make up their minds as to what they intended to do, which should have been based upon a definitive understanding of what would be the possible consequences if they do not place their shares into a blind trust.
And this is not about crystal ball gazing, this is about the need to secure your business assets against potential risk, if you wish to retain those assets within an increasingly hostile environment for MCOs.
I have always maintained that this failure goes to the very heart of the case against Palace. If they had done this, the onus is then on UEFA to declare their intentions through the appropriate channels. But by not having that dialogue Palace left themselves vulnerable and ripe for exploitation by unscrupulous parties.