21 February 2024 , 00:37
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe may have to surrender control of Nice in order to avoid scuppering Manchester United ’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Ratcliffe’s takeover of United was finally made official on Tuesday night – and while the news was celebrated by his INEOS team, it also raised some serious questions. Although the Glazer family remain majority owners of United, Ratcliffe’s 25 per cent stake has bought him sporting control of his boyhood club.
That could put him in breach of UEFA’s rules around multi-club ownership, given one of his other sides, Nice, are also hoping to compete in the Champions League next season. Nice, who have been owned by INEOS since August 2019, are currently third in Ligue 1 – three places higher than United sit in the Premier League, despite four straight wins.
UEFA’s rules state that if both United and Nice were to qualify for the Champions League next season, then the team who finished higher in their league would take the spot in the competition, while the other would be barred. That means that United could close the five-point gap to fourth place, only to miss out on qualification due to their new owner's other business interests.
However, The Telegraph reports that petrochemicals billionaire Ratcliffe would consider relinquishing control of the French side in order to focus on United. Doing so would avoid a potential conflict of interest in European competitions, with UEFA’s rules stating the same owner or entity is not permitted to have “decisive influence” across two or more clubs.
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Ratcliffe is the majority shareholder at Nice, but is already taking a back seat there to focus on United instead. While he will reportedly seek clarification from UEFA first, the 71-year-old would be willing to let Nice become a ‘stand-alone’ entity in the INEOS group, which also includes Swiss club Lausanne.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has owned Nice since 2019 (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)Attention has already switched from the south of France to Manchester, with director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford working at United since January and playing a key role in staff recruitment. After hiring Omar Berrada from Manchester City to become the new chief executive, United are pushing to get Dan Ashworth from Newcastle as their sporting director.
Speaking after the completion was announced on Tuesday evening, Ratcliffe said: "To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honour and comes with great responsibility. This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans. Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”
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