Rangers, Hearts and Hibs watch Crystal Palace situation with interest as SFA has say on Euro exclusion

The situation with Crystal Palace potentially being denied from competing in Europe next season will not have gone unnoticed by supporters of Rangers, Hearts and Hibs.

Oliver Glasner’s team clinched a Europa League spot after they stunned Manchester City to win the FA Cup at Wembley last month – the first major trophy in the club’s history.

However, there is a complication.

Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi (centre left) and Joel Ward (centre right) lift the FA Cup after the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday May 17, 2025. | PA

Palace are facing an anxious wait to discover their fate after being required to meet with Uefa's club financial control body (CFCB) to show they do not fall foul of its multi-club ownership rules.

John Textor holds a 43 per cent stake in Palace through his company Eagle Football, while he is also the owner of French club Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League with a sixth-placed Ligue 1 finish.

No individual is allowed to have a significant say in the running of two clubs competing in the same Uefa competition and the CFCB will make a ruling on the case this month.

Irish club Drogheda United have already been expelled from the Conference League due to multi-club ownership rules. They are currently owned by the Trivela Group - an organisation which also has a majority share in Danish side Silkeborg IF, who have also qualified for the Conference League, meaning Drogheda are unable to compete due to Uefa regulations, although club officials plan to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

While Palace are confident they can settle their case - either by proving that Textor's influence at Selhurst Park is limited or by the American agreeing to sell his stake - the outcome could have implications for the Scottish clubs who have opened their doors to investors from other clubs.

Rangers were recently taken over by an American consortium involving 49ers Enterprises - who own Leeds United - while Brighton owner Tony Bloom, who is also a minority shareholder in Union Saint-Gilloise, is set to acquire a 29 per cent stake in Hearts, with non-voting rights, in return for a near £10million investment. Hibs have also linked up with Bill Foley's Black Knights Group - who run Bournemouth and have involvement with French club Lorient and Auckland FC in New Zealand.

All three deals required SFA approval and the chief executive of the governing body, Ian Maxwell, has welcomed the influx of multi-club investors into the Scottish game.

Brighton owner Tony Bloom is set to purchase a 29 per cent stake in Hearts. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) | Getty Images

"Multi-club ownership is here. It's part of football," he stated. "When you look across Europe, the number of clubs that are involved in some multi-club structure is growing by the day. We need to be part of that or why would you limit that investment? It was actually interesting when you start to think through the process. We had dual interest regulations which meant that if you're involved in a club, you can't get involved in a Scottish club unless we say yes.

"But someone like a Tony Bloom, for example, that's getting involved in Hearts, has a track record at Brighton, understands football, has Union Saint-Gilloise, knows other clubs. We actually make it harder for him to come into Scottish football than we do for someone who's just sold a company for £10 million that's got no understanding of the Scottish game. When you actually get into it, that probably doesn't make a lot of sense."

Maxwell also attempted to allay fears that Scottish clubs could find themselves in the same boat as Palace if say, for example, both Rangers and Leeds qualified to compete in the same European competition with the chairman of the newly-promoted English Premier League side, Paraag Marathe, also now the vice-chairman at Ibrox.

"Our board, we're looking at it from two perspectives," Maxwell added. "Does it grow and develop the game? Will it generate financial investment into Scottish football? Does it give us an integrity issue?

"The integrity issue falls away because that would only happen if it was two Scottish teams playing under our jurisdiction, which it's not. The jurisdictional matter becomes a UEFA point and we've been clear in all the dual interests, all the multi-club investment models that we've done, that if there was, similar to a Crystal Palace scenario at the moment, where there's a question mark about which one's going to play in Europe, it can’t be the Scottish club that's the unintended consequence or has to step aside from European competition.

Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe is also the vice-chairman of Rangers following the recent takeover by 49ers Enterprises. | PA

"Now, I don't really understand why Crystal Palace and [Lyon], but they've not been able to sort that out because UEFA have shown in the past that they can find a way.

"There’s both of the Red Bull teams so they've found a way to make it work, whether it's just a timing issue or whether it's not. The good thing is, because the vast majority of clubs that have came into Scotland have got other multi-club ownership models, they're used to that.

"You speak to the guys involved in the Hearts deal and they're very aware of what UEFA need and what UEFA want and how that structure needs to look to make sure we don't get ourselves those problems.

"So I think it's here, we can't ignore it. Why would you want to step away from it? Why would you want to block investment coming into the game if it's going to be good for our clubs?

"The trick is the club need to then go and spend that money as wisely as possible. We don't get involved in that bit. But from a board perspective there's definitely a willingness to look at anything that generates more investment into Scotland."