DAIRE Doyle insisted Uefa must treat Drogheda United like they would Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Drogs are awaiting a decision from European football’s governing body on their 2025/26 Conference League involvement after their Danish sister club Silkeborg also qualified for Europe.
Both clubs are owned by the US-based Trivela Group, who also own Walsall, and Uefa has strict rules regarding multi-club ownership models and competing in Europe.
And the Drogs’ position is in peril as rules dictate that where there is joint ownership, the club that finished lower in their league is the one to miss out.
There are precedents from the past. Manchester City put their 47 per cent ownership of Spanish outfit Girona in blind trust so both clubs could compete in the Champions League.
And Uefa are in discussions with Trivela — Crystal Palace and Lyon are in a similar situation — with a ruling expected next week.
Assistant boss Doyle said that it is important that Drogheda get the same treatment as any European giant.
He said: “You’d hope the procedures should follow. Drogheda should be treated the same as PSG. I know the club have been in contact with Uefa over the past number of months, they’re doing all they can.
“And they’ve let me know that they’re hopeful that we can see a positive outcome to it all.
“There has been work done over a period of time to do what we need to do to find a solution to it.
“People will speculate on the bad side rather than the good side. If you take history, there are clubs and ownership models similar to ourselves where both clubs have been in competitions and in some cases the same competition.
“So we can take that precedent that has been set over the last few years and we will be hopeful that will be no different to ourselves.
“Obviously until that does come out, you are going to have the people of Drogheda, supporters, players — everyone is going to talk until a decision is there. That is to be expected.”
Doyle acknowledged that it has been something Trivela have been looking into since they first proposed buying 80 per cent of Silkeborg in December.
That was a month after the Drogs secured European football by seeing off Derry City to win the FAI Cup.
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And Doyle admitted that, while both clubs have the same owners, there have been few dealings between them.
He said: “There wouldn’t be too much contact with Silkeborg to be honest.
“The Walsall one, there would be more of a link there because obviously we’ve had players on loan from them, they’ve come over and played against us last year.
“It was a situation that could arise with another top-level country, so it was something I’m sure Trivela were aware could arise and they have been talking over the last couple of months.
“Hopefully we are in a position where ourselves and Silkeborg can both play in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Doyle was pleased that the Drogs have got a home draw for when their FAI Cup defence begins next month. They will host Leinster Senior League outfit Crumlin United.
Doyle knows the league well as his son Jack plays for Home Farm, and he has regularly seen Crumlin this season.
The Drogs assistant said: “I’ve seen quite a few games this year, they’ve quite a few good players. James Lee is an excellent manager and former player as well.
“We’re really happy we got a home draw, that’s the most important thing.
“We’ll do our homework on Crumlin now and make sure we find out as much as we can about them before the game.”
