Crystal Palace's tumble from the Europa League before it's even started is a sporting catastrophe that they should have seen coming. That they didn't is overwhelmingly on them. This, in essence, is the London club's own fault.
Yes, there are too many shades of grey in UEFA's rules about multi-club ownership. European football's governing body have allowed subjectivity and interpretation to play too great role in this embarrassing shambles.
What is a 'decisive influence' on a football club? Discuss.
It sounds like an exam question and on this occasion it's one that John Textor, Steve Parish and everybody at Palace involved in this sorry mess have failed.