Manchester United supporters are hoping the takeover process of their club will be concluded soon as the lengthy process continues to rumble on.
The Glazers put the club on the market last November and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have long been the leading contenders. Reports this week have put the former in pole position with Reuters claiming the Sheikh would soon enter a period of exclusivity with the Reds' board.
However, this has been refuted by other sources meaning Ratcliffe is not to be ruled out yet. Should the head of INEOS and Nice owner win the race to buy the club, he will need to operate under the rules of UEFA as well as the Premier League.
This means, European football's governing body regulations on multi-ownership will need to be taken into account. MEN Sport has taken a look at what this means and how it will affect United's bidders.
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What are the multi-ownership rules?
As stated in Article 5 of UEFA's rules, no club participating in a UEFA club competition may, either directly or indirectly:
Hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition
Be a member of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition
Be involved in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition
Have any power whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition
This is defined by someone who has:
- Majority of the shareholder's voting rights
- The right to appoint or remove the majority members of the board
- The majority of voting rights due to an agreement with other board members
- The means to exercise a decisive influence on decisions
If this is failed the club which qualifies for the lower ranked European competition will be banned from entering the competition.
Who could be affected?
Ratcliffe is most likely to be affected by this because of his ownership of Nice. Sheikh Jassim does not own another football club in UEFA however some concerns had been raised due to his close ties to Qatar's ruling elite which owns PSG. But, Sheikh Jassim is reportedly not concerned about the rules and 'would not have submitted a bid' if he thought he would be barred from taking over, according to The Telegraph.
Is it likely to affect United?
As well as Sheikh Jassim, INEOS' Ratcliffe has already dismissed this rule affecting him when he tried to buy Chelsea. He told the BBC in 2022 when asked about if he needed to sell the Ligue 1 club: "No, we are very committed to Nice. I mean we need to figure out how we manage that situation but we need to close this chapter before we go down that road."
In March 2023, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin hinted their could be a 'rethink' on these rules which would stop the Reds and Nice being affected.
"Those are the current rules, which we have to rethink," he told Gary Neville on The Overlap. "We have to speak about these regulations and see what to do about it. There is more and more interest for this multi-club ownership. We shouldn’t just say no for the investments for multi-club ownership, but we have to see what kind of rules we set in that case because the rules have to be strict.
"Look, we are not thinking about United only. We had like five or six owners of clubs who want to buy another club. We have to see what to do. I won’t say what we do but we first have to speak in the house and bring it to the executive committee."
A Manchester Evening News special souvenir edition - Fergie's First - charts United's 1992/93 title-winning campaign and you can get your hands on one here
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