UEFA may allow teams with the same owner to compete for European trophies in a change that could have huge ramifications for the potential takeover of Manchester United.
Teams with the same owner - such as Brighton and Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, both majority-owned by Tony Bloom - are currently prohibited from facing each other in European competition due to issues of sporting integrity. But UEFA's president Aleksander Ceferin has detailed a rethink that could alter the rules.
United received formal bids for a majority or full takeover of the club last month, with both Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe having relationships with clubs in France's Ligue 1 - the latter's INEOS group owns Nice while Sheikh Jassim's links with the Qatari state, who own Paris Saint-Germain, have been a point of concern.
TAKEOVER LATEST: Glazers in 'standoff' with bidders as revised offers expected
The likelihood that United and PSG will be in the Champions League next year raised concerns over the pair competing, which could be a breach of UEFA rules if links to the Qatari state are proven. But speaking with Gary Neville on the Overlap, Ceferin spoke of the current rules and his plans to explore possible changes.
“We are not thinking about Manchester United only," the UEFA president said. "We’ve had five or six owners of clubs who want to buy another club. We have to see what to do. The options are that it stays like that or that we allow them to play in the same competition. I’m not sure yet.
“We have to speak about these regulations and see what to do about it. There is more and more interest in 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.
“From one point of view it’s true if you are the owner of two clubs and they play in the same competition you can say to one club to lose because you want the other to win. But for you, as a football player, do you think it’s so easy to do that, to tell a coach, lose the match because the other wants to win?"
Current owners the Glazers are currently at a stand-off, with prospective new owners thought to be around £500million short of their minimum asking price. The American family were hopeful of completing the sale by the end of March, although that is expected to be premature.
Revised bids could be tabled by the end of this week as the second stage of the takeover process reaches its conclusion.
READ NEXT
