Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is confident he will not be barred from completing a takeover of Manchester United by UEFA.
Sheikh Jassim has submitted a bid to buy United from the Glazers, who put the club up for sale last November. INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe also submitted an offer before last Friday's 'soft' deadline, while other parties are also believed to be interested.
There are concerns Sheikh Jassim's bid will be blocked due to his close links with Qatar's ruling elite. The Arab country's subsidiary Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) already own a controlling share of Paris Saint-Germain, which could be deemed as a conflict of interest.
Multi-club ownership is common, but UEFA see it as a "threat" to European competitions. United and PSG are two of the biggest clubs in Europe and often participate in the Champions League. In theory, they could both reach the latter stages of that competition.
As such, there could be a conflict of interest. It is important to note that rival bidder Ratcliffe also owns French side Nice and Swiss outfit Lausanne. It is unclear whether he would be willing to sell both clubs, but it's unlikely that QSI would say goodbye to PSG.
Yet Sheikh Jassim is not believed to be overly worried about this. He has promised to finance his bid via his Nine Two Foundation - not through QSI - and has dismissed any notion that United will become an effective state-run project.
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QSI is a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) - the country's sovereign wealth fund. QIA is the largest shareholder of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) - the bank that Sheikh Jassim runs. Sheikh Jassim is also the son of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who was the prime minister of Qatar between 2007 and 2013.
But a source has said that Sheikh Jassim would not submit an offer to buy United unless he was "100 per cent convinced" that his bid would be approved by UEFA. United or PSG could be barred from European competition if QSI are deemed to be involved.
"If Sheikh Jassim and his office were not entirely convinced - 100 per cent convinced - that this bid would not comply with all regulatory mechanisms in the UK and wider rules then they wouldn’t go through the trouble of submitting the bid," a source told The Telegraph.
"From our side, we're very confident this would be fully compliant with all regulations and is why Sheikh Jassim is going for it. On the point of the QIA and QSI, there is absolutely no overlap operationally, legally or from an advisory perspective.
"If that would have been the case he would not have gone for this bid. He is potentially investing in the club as a private individual."
The Glazers reportedly want £5billion for their shares, but there are other investors to buy out. The new owner would also inherit around £680million in debt and would need to invest a further £2bn to improve infrastructure, including a revamp of Old Trafford.
Sheikh Jassim's statement on the bid reads: "Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani today confirmed his submission of a bid for 100 per cent of Manchester United Football Club. The bid plans to return the club to its former glories both on and off the pitch, and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more.
"The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the club supports.
"The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world. More details of the bid will be released, when appropriate, if and when the bid process develops."
