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Manchester United will be allowed to play in Europe next season after Uefa ruled that there had been changes in the ownership of their sister club, Nice, while both Manchester City and Girona will be able to take up their places in the Champions League.
Uefa had investigated both Manchester clubs amid concerns about multi-club ownership but investors in Girona and Nice have put their shares in a blind trust for the season.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was already the owner of Nice before he took a 27.7 percent stake in United and control of footballing issues but when Erik ten Hag’s team won the FA Cup, they qualified for the Europa League – which the French club had already reached after finishing fifth in Ligue Un.
Under Uefa’s rules about multi-club ownership, if only one club is permitted to enter European club competition, it is the one with the highest finish in their domestic league, and United were only eighth in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, City won a fourth consecutive English league title but Girona, who are 47 percent owned by the City Football Group, qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history as a result of coming third in LaLiga.
Earlier this week, three Girona directors with connections to the City Football Group - John MacBeath, Simon Cliff and Ingo Bank – all resigned and were replaced by three, in Matthew Shale, Edward Gall, and Paul Ganston, who have no such obvious conflict of interest.
Both Manchester clubs were able to satisfy Uefa that they would not be breaching Article 5 of its rules, which demands that “no one is simultaneously involved, directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition; and no one has control or decisive influence over more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition”.
Uefa determined they had made “significant changes… to the ownership, governance, and financial support of the concerned clubs, substantially restrict the investors’ influence and decision-making power over more than one club”.
According to Uefa’s ruling, the investors in Nice and Girona – Ratcliffe and the CFG – will not be allowed to appoint directors or influence sporting decisions while the shares are in a blind trust. They will revert to their owners in July 2025.
Uefa also ruled that clubs with shared ownership will not be able to buy, sell or loan players from each other, apart from pre-existing agreements, this season, meaning United cannot bring in Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo.
They are also not permitted to use joint scouting networks or come to commercial agreements with each other, with Uefa saying they will monitor each case this season to ensure the respective clubs are complying with the rules.
