Liverpool allowed to play Toulouse in Europa League despite ownership issue

26 October 2023 , 13:26

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Anfield will host Thursday's game (Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool are allowed to play Toulouse in the Europa League - despite RedBird Capital Partners being involved in both clubs.

Toulouse, who won last season's French Cup to qualify for the Europa League, will travel to Merseyside on Thursday to play Jurgen Klopp's favourites. Liverpool defeated Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise and Austria's LASK in their first two European games this term.

Fans were initially concerned that Liverpool and Toulouse couldn't face each other due to RedBird. The American investment group is the majority owner of Toulouse and boasts an 11 per cent stake in Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which owns the Reds.

According to UEFA's rules, "no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition". And European football's governing body is satisfied RedBird don't have enough influence over both clubs.

RedBird bought an 85 per cent in Toulouse during the summer 2020 before buying an 11 per cent stake in FSG the following April. At the time of the second purchase, Liverpool were Champions League regulars and Toulouse were playing in Ligue 2.

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It seemed unimaginable that both clubs would be playing in the Europa League just two-and-a-half years later. RedBird's founder Gerry Cardinale took action after Toulouse's French Cup triumph and resigned from the club's board to avoid a conflict of interest, although his involvement dud not reach UEFA's definition of "control" and the governing body did not ask for any changes to the structure of either club.

The changes to Toulouse's structure will also mean there will not be an issue should AC Milan drop into the Europa League. RedBird also owns a 99.93 per cent stake in Milan. The Italian giants are currently fourth in their Champions League group, which also contains Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle. They will drop into the Europa League if they finish third.

Gerry Cardinale resigned from Toulouse's board to ensure the French team could play in Europe (Getty Images)

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If that happens and Toulouse finish second in their Europa League group, the two teams could face each other in the play-off round. Multi-club ownership is a rather new phenomenon in football.

Brighton owner Tony Bloom also owned USG and was forced to significantly dilute his ownership in the latter club to ensure both teams could play in the Europa League. Again, it seemed unlikely both teams would ever play in the same tournament.

Brighton are playing in Europe for the first time this season, while USG ended a 58-year wait for European football by qualifying for last term's Europa League. USG's president Alex Muzio has ensured fans they will remain a "force in Belgian football".

RedBird isn't the only connection between Liverpool and Toulouse. The French club's president is Damien Comolli, who was in charge of Liverpool's transfers between 2010 and 2012. He was responsible for signing the likes of Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson.

Tom Blow