Crystal Palace fined £50,000 over fan banner at Nottingham Forest match | OneFootball

Crystal Palace have been fined £50,000 after an independent regulatory commission ruled the club breached FA Rule E21 when a banner was displayed by home fans during the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on 24 August.

As reported by NY Times, Palace were charged with misconduct in November and, on Friday, the commission found the club had not ensured supporters avoided improper, offensive, abusive, insulting or provocative behaviour.

The display appeared to depict Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis and was unfurled in the Lower Holmesdale Road end, home to the Holmesdale Fanatics, amid heightened tensions between the clubs. Palace contested the charge, arguing they had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the banner.

The three-person panel rejected that due diligence defence. It said planning and preparation were in place, but security should also have searched the storage room set aside for supporters’ banners.

Fans removed the banner voluntarily within about two minutes. With no aggravating factors such as violence, discriminatory chanting, disruption or pitch invasion, the breach was deemed at the lower end.

Relations had worsened after Palace were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League for breaching UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, with Forest taking their spot. In July chairman Steve Parish suggested Forest had played a role in blocking Palace’s Europa League entry.

Palace fans have drawn scrutiny over banners before. A 2021 Holmesdale Fanatics display about Newcastle’s takeover, criticising the Premier League owners’ and directors’ test and referencing Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, was investigated by police after being reported as offensive, though no action followed.

In September UEFA fined Palace €10,000 (£8,693) after fans displayed another banner bearing the words UEFA MAFIA during the Conference League play-off against Fredrikstad in August.

Source: NY Times