Two little words uttered by Crystal Palace fans during their season-long journey in the UEFA Conference League are once again in the spotlight before they finally share a stadium with an unamused UEFA leadership.
The chant is often heard during Palace matches and has led to multiple disciplinary cases from UEFA, with Palace lawyers citing the European Convention on Human Rights and fans’ freedom to express satirical commentary.
The second word is “UEFA”, the first is an expletive. UEFA has argued that it is “neither humorous nor satirical, but a serious insult.”
The f-bomb feud between the fans has cost Palace tens of thousands of euros (dollars) in fines imposed by UEFA-appointed judges at internal judicial bodies.
READ ALSO | India at Unity Cup 2026 — Poster boy Ryan Williams is offering Indian football an opportunity like never before
The chant could be broadcast again on Wednesday in Leipzig, where Palace play Rayo Vallecano in the final of a competition for which it has never qualified and never wanted to play.
A year ago, it was a complex story throughout the offseason, with cameo roles for a few billionaires in the United States, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
When Palace stunningly defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final last May, they won a first major trophy in the club’s 120-year history. It also earned a direct place in the Europa League, UEFA’s second club competition after the Champions League.
That is, until Palace lost a legal dispute at the Court of Arbitration for Sport over UEFA rules designed to protect integrity by preventing two shared-owned teams from competing in the same competition.
Palace’s then-minority owner John Textor – an American businessman with a vibrant history of owning clubs in Brazil, Belgium and France – also owned Lyon, which qualified for the Europa League as a sixth-place finisher in the French league.
Palace were almost saved when Lyon were initially relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial turmoil. Textor resigned from Lyon, which was taken over by women’s football investor Michele Kang and returned to Ligue 1.
UEFA has fined Palace 10,000 euros on charges of ‘conveying a message inappropriate for a sporting event’ and ‘bringing UEFA into disrepute’. | Photo credit: Sebastian Frej
UEFA has fined Palace 10,000 euros on charges of ‘conveying a message inappropriate for a sporting event’ and ‘bringing UEFA into disrepute’. | Photo credit: Sebastian Frej
UEFA then ruled that Textor had “decisive influence” – a key test under multi-club ownership rules – at Palace, which would subsequently be separated from Lyon by relegation to the third-tier Conference League.
READ ALSO | Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis investigated the stadium row
The fact that Textor sold his stake in Palace to Johnson before the team kicked a ball on its European debut was too late to impact the case being heard by the highest sports court in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Palace fans started the season in August with flags and T-shirts bearing the ‘UEFA Mafia’ logo, including at Wembley Stadium against Premier League winners Liverpool and then in the Conference League qualifier against Fredrikstad.
UEFA has fined Palace 10,000 euros on charges of ‘conveying a message inappropriate for a sporting event’ and ‘bringing UEFA into disrepute’.
When Palace started the main phase of the Conference League away to Dynamo Kiev in neutral Poland in October, the swear word was heard five times by UEFA officials during the match. Another fine of 10,000 euros.
In the disciplinary judgment published by UEFA, Palace’s lawyers argued that the chants should be interpreted as ‘harmless, satirical outbursts’. They pointed to a similar case won at CAS last year by Norwegian club Brann.
The UEFA judge said the f-word “has no place” in football and that “such language is neither humorous nor satirical, but a serious insult.”
More chants and a €15,000 fine followed Palace’s match against Irish club Shelbourne in December.
UEFA has never escalated the punishment of closing part of Palace’s home stadium Selhurst Park for any European match. | Photo credit: Getty Images
UEFA has never escalated the punishment of closing part of Palace’s home stadium Selhurst Park for any European match. | Photo credit: Getty Images
The ‘reasonable observer’, Palace’s lawyers argued at the time, would see blasphemy as part of European football culture and understand ‘a biting criticism of UEFA’, given the dispute that was decided at CAS in pre-season.
UEFA’s appeal judge agreed with the football body that the European Convention on Human Rights «primarily regulates the conduct of public authorities and does not directly apply to private entities such as UEFA.»
READ ALSO | Pep Guardiola greeted by Michael Jordan at Man City’s farewell party
In any case, the UEFA judge ruled, Article 10 of the convention on freedom of expression is “not absolute” to allow “any form of rude, insulting or insulting messages in stadiums.”
More chants followed in the knockout rounds against Zrinjski Mostar and AEK Larnaca, resulting in fines of 20,000 euros ($23,300) each, and then a 25,000 euro ($29,000) fine after a semi-final against Shakhtar Donetsk.
UEFA has never escalated the punishment of closing part of Palace’s home stadium Selhurst Park for any European match.
If Palace win the title on Wednesday, they will go straight to the next Europa League. At least eight more matches will be played for UEFA disciplinary officials to monitor. If Palace lose, his European adventures are over.
Published on May 26, 2026
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/willie-nelson-kids-1-090b05e86cd34591a7ba804f0dc25d43.jpg?w=238&resize=238,178&ssl=1 "Los 8 hijos de Willie Nelson: todo sobre sus hijos e hijas")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/willie-nelson-kids-1-090b05e86cd34591a7ba804f0dc25d43.jpg?w=100&resize=100,75&ssl=1 "Los 8 hijos de Willie Nelson: todo sobre sus hijos e hijas")
