09 February 2024 , 09:38
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Manchester United are attempting to improve their relationship with UEFA chiefs in a bid to ensure Sir Jim Ratcliffe's recent purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club does not cause any problems.
Under existing UEFA rules on multi-club ownership, Ratcliffe and his company INEOS' existing ownership of Ligue 1 club Nice could have an impact on United's chances of competing in Europe next season. Article 5 of UEFA's club competitions regulations prevent an individual or group from having "control or influence" over more than one team playing in the same tournament, meaning that if United and Nice both qualify for the Champions League then one club may be forced to miss out.
The rules also state that the club which finishes highest in their domestic league will be given precedence. As things stand, Nice are currently second in Ligue 1 and United are sixth in the Premier League, meaning the Red Devils are more likely to miss out.
According to the Daily Mail, UEFA's general secretary Theodore Theodoridis was a guest at Old Trafford for their win over West Ham last weekend and INEOS representatives have also held talks with UEFA in Switzerland amid the concerns.
The report states that United are 'confident' any potential problems can be resolved after both Brighton and Aston Villa were allowed to feature in Europe this season. That is despite Brighton owner Tony Bloom also having a stake in Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise and Villa owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris also having a stake in Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes.
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Both Brighton and Villa were in danger of missing out on their spots in Europe as both Union and Vitoria finished higher in their respective leagues. However, Bloom insists he has no operational control of Union and has reduced his ownership to a minority 25 per cent stake, while Edens and Sawiris reduced their stake in Vitoria from 46 to 29 per cent and also quit the club's board.
As a result, they were able to satisfy UEFA's rules. Although Ratcliffe and INEOS' stake in United is just 25 per cent, the fact that he is set to take full control of the sporting side of the club could prove a problem when compared to Brighton and Villa's circumstances.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has suggested their multi-club ownership rules could be relaxed (Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin suggested last year that rules could be relaxed, telling former United captain 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 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?"
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